


Once Upon A Dream

by HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alien Abduction, Angst, Character Death, Former Drug Addicts, Horror, M/M, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2020-09-07 18:23:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20313970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd/pseuds/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd
Summary: Two former addicts question themselves on whether the things they see while awake are nightmares caused by a car accident or a living horror story. *Completed Story*





	1. Chapter 1

**1: Drugs**

They had known each other for awhile, both of them fresh out of high school with dreams to chase. They had met when their dealer had left them both high and dry one night, when they were in need of their fixes the most. It wasn't easy to admit that they had a problem, and they knew it was wrong to get involved. But it was difficult to stay away. Eventually, their problems merged and months later, they were sharing that problem with each other. It led to terrible decisions, destroyed relationships and already shaky bridges. Family members had already made the choice to turn their backs on them out of frustration and grief, friends had drifted away and the isolation had left them grasping at each other.

It felt like they both had a death wish, acknowledging it for what it was and leaving it as that.

One summer night, windows down and music blaring, Trafalgar Law had his foot on the gas and Sanji Blackleg had his seatbelt on and his legs stretched over onto the other man's side while he prepared their next fix. Both of them were lacking sleep, common sense and an urgency to get to their destination on time. The speedometer told Law he was going too fast for the country roads, but his foot was heavy and his soul seemed to be singing with urgency to _just get there_. At that moment, neither of them had a single care in the world. At this point in their life, there was nothing to care for. They were barely entering their twenties and already failing at rescuing themselves.

After wiping his upper gum line with his thumb, Sanji sniffed and looked over at Law. His nose always felt like it was running. His eyes felt dry and heavy and he was at that stage where he kept seeing things move from the corner of his vision and he was hearing words that had yet to be spoken. He was half convinced he had some sort of mind powers. He was steadily shrinking and he thought that he'd eventually disappear into a void of no return. He couldn't stop moving, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. His fingers were covered in knicks and scrapes caused by his knife, the skin around his nails peeling and gruesome. He'd lost his self-preservation a long time ago.

"I had a dream the other night," he said lightly, reaching over to turn down the music. Law turned it back up, tires screeching across the pavement. Above the open window and the squealing of guitars and angry voices, Sanji raised his voice. His partner was too lost in his focus and in the throes of slight withdrawal. So Sanji spoke aloud to himself. "Kind of fantastic, really. I had this restaurant. It was stuck in the middle of a big sea that was bluer than any sky, and all I had to do was reach in and pull something up, and it was always the most _fantastic_ dish I could ever make. I didn't see you there. It was almost as if…I were the only one left in the world. I thought it was a nightmare, at first. But you should have been there. The shit I made was the best shit I could ever make in my life."

Sanji reflected on the remnants of this dream. He smiled grimly, head nodding. "Best shit ever. Everything was pure. Untouched. But everything was possible. Anything was….I mean, it was…almost beautiful. You should've been there."

Law was aware that Sanji was talking, and finally took notice of him. He glanced over momentarily, taking a turn too sharply. The person in the other lane facing them had to swerve violently to avoid being swiped. It was funny how the driver looked at them with shock as they drove past. He snickered.

"All of these ants, man," he murmured, shaking his head. "All of them. They're just in the way. They just show up and stand there and watch and say nothing. Have you ever given it any thought to how many there are? Too many."

Sanji furrowed his brow with confusion, looking out the windshield while he straightened in his seat. He hadn't noticed ants that much. He rubbed and tugged at his nose, then searched for tissue in the glove compartment. Law glanced at him again for an answer, then pushed on the gas pedal once they had the straightaway.

"Like aliens?" Sanji then asked curiously, looking up at the night sky.

"_Where_?"

"I meant, are you talking about aliens?" Sanji asked impatiently as Law scanned the sky through the windshield, the car swerving slightly with his delayed reaction.

"No…? I was talking about people."

"You said something about ants. I can't hear a thing above this noise."

"Five more minutes, and I would beat my last run time," Law told him, grinning. His eyes were near black – rimmed with sleeplessness and carelessness. Looking too long at Sanji and not at the road. But Sanji just smirked at him, then tended to the tin on his lap. He'd turned a few tricks at the truck stop for some cash. Law watched over him, a gun tucked into his pants for Sanji's safety. Law did that, sometimes – watched over him protectively and was quick to react if something was dangerous. It reminded Sanji that the man was still just as human as he was. The man _still_ had a heart inside of him.

In Sanji's mind, Law cared for Sanji. Not just to rely on Sanji to get the money needed for the drugs they wanted. When everyone else had turned their backs on Sanji, Law was there to watch his back and feed him when Sanji needed it. In return, Sanji treated him gently and gave him fuel for his manic thoughts, helped Law think that he wasn't alone. Together, the pair of them were toxic and unstoppable. Their families and friends had abandoned them because of this.

"Last one for the road," he murmured, handing Law the rolled up bill they shared. He took the wheel while Law took the tin. Concentrating on the road, Sanji kept them steady while Law indulged. When he straightened up, wiping his nose, Law took the wheel back and Sanji took the tin. He used his fingertip to scrape up the rest. "Then we get back to being people, again."

"I'm so tired of it," Law complained, feeling the rush. They could go faster – he'd beat his time by at least a minute if he could keep the vehicle steady. In his mind, everything about his actions were steady and reflective of his super-fast reflexes. He only had these reflexes when his powers were heightened by his bad choices, but no one could understand that. Only Sanji did, which is why the blond trusted him. "Being people. In the end, we're just sheep for slaughter. What a waste of capitalism."

"Let's not get into that debate again."

"Seriously. Sanji. Think about it. If we could just…go back to the time where we could just be pirates again – just do shit for ourselves, by ourselves, for nobody but ourselves, just us – think of that freedom. Think of how easy it would be. Think," Law insisted, hand waving through the air as the scenery ripped past them. It was almost like they were on the Millennium Falcon, with the stars zipping by them in continuous bright lines but they were passing by farms and large country houses – passing by fence lines and blinking animals. "Our own freedom determined by what we needed for that time, at that time."

Sanji sighed noisily, resting his head against the frame of the open window. Watching the trees pass by, allowing him fleeting glances of the night sky. His hair whipped by harshly, stinging at his hairline. Like millions of tiny bugs were grasping desperately at the strands in their effort to pull him out of the car.

"We're a modern society," he murmured. "Too many years past what we can only dream…"

"Then let's go back to that dream," Law insisted. "Let's go back in time and determine our own fates. Instead of allowing this shit to happen. Sanji."

"_How_? How, Law? How do we travel back through time?"

"I don't know…_somehow_. The government knows how. Only they know the truth. Sending agents back through time to manipulate key events – JFK. Modern day agents. They couldn't find the assassins because it was our modern day agents that did it. Determining the choice of fate with calculated effort to switch up the sheeple thinking."

Sanji could see sheep with human faces watching them fly by. It made his skin itch.

"I couldn't do it," he murmured vaguely. "How would we take showers on the sea?"

"We don't. _Moron_. We stink like men."

"I'd need a bath. You can't bathe in seawater."

"You're missing the point of this _entire_ conversation."

"We'd stink so bad," Sanji whispered delicately, concerned. "Worse than we do now."

Frustrated that Sanji wasn't contributing to the conversation properly, Law hit the brake. The speedometer dipped and they took a turn too fast. It forced Sanji to sit up and grasp at his seatbelt with a laugh, upper body slamming against the seat as it locked. Law caught the steering wheel and yet they were fine to continue on as the car slowed.

Eventually, they came to a stop near a grassy knoll. The headlights illuminated a guardrail in the distance, protecting drivers from a ditch. Cows called out in the distance, and Sanji looked up to see that Law was peering out the windshield again. He folded his arms over the wheel and just marveled at the sight of the stars.

"It'd go on forever," Law murmured. "Seeing nothing but darkness and the blink of burning gases. And the sound of water would carry everywhere, with the stench of salt and humidity. It'd just be us on that sea. _Only_ us. Feeling like the last two people in the whole, entire world…"

"I don't know about you, but my sense of smell is shot. I can smell in my dreams, but not waking life."

"Maybe that's what we need to do. We can only travel through time in our dreams. Make that an active mission. We can do it, Sanji. It's all about the will."

"I don't even if mine is as powerful as yours." Sanji lowered the volume of their music once more. They could hear crickets, animals in the distance, and a dog barking. The car's engine hummed violently – Law's car was an older modal, but the sound system was modernized. The parts underneath the faded and dented hood needed work. But they had plenty of leg room, the back seat was comfortable and the promise of steel against modern plastic felt safe. The wide wheel supporting Law was bigger than Sanji's shoulder length.

Wide awake, Law considered the possibilities. Modern day living was harsh and unforgiving, but he could imagine how easy it would be to be a pirate. He looked over at Sanji with mirth. "With code names," he added. "We'd have code names. And have big bounties."

"You're dreaming," Sanji told him. "You would suck as a pirate."

"I'd be a great pirate. Cut out hearts and shit? Be a heartthrob."

"_HAH_."

"Wear stupid clothes."

"Like you don't already."

"Take all the men's hearts…"

"You're just a romantic. Bigger than me." Sanji leaned over and kissed him. "You could never make it as a pirate. You're too nice."

Law just chuckled. He reached over and patted one of Sanji's bony knees. His own skin was stretched thin – both of them in bad condition. Sharing clothes and thoughts as easily as they shared rolled dollar bills and bad habits. They were twins – fraternal twins. Only able to read each other's minds and dreams as easily as speaking them. He had his greasy hair in a tight ponytail at the top of his head, so it resembled a palm tree. His face was spotted and scabbed, and his scruff thick and uneven. He was too far gone to feel pity for himself, though. Both of them were.

They had piled the trunk and back seat with all their personal belongings and had vowed to leave everything else behind – mostly because they couldn't pay rent anymore. They'd lost their jobs, they couldn't fit in. But they needed just _one more fix_ for the road. Their new dealer lived out in the countryside, and this was their "last stop". Then they were going to beg for gas at truck stops and live off gas station trash cans until they could reach the west coast. The Emerald Triangle was calling for them. They could drop their expensive habits living as trimmigants and slowly get their shit back together. Live off the abundant green land and wear dreads, smoke every day and maybe disappear in Humboldt County with their own bad decisions.

Whichever happened, Law was fine with it because Sanji was with him. Whatever thinking he'd had before was long gone. He was once a promising medical student and Sanji a chef with aspirations. But now they were skeletons with big dreams and a lost sense of smell. Without family, without friends – just each other.

Sanji looked over at him. His expression seemed suddenly stiff. "We should stop," he said quietly. He reached over and rested a hot hand against Law's thigh. "Turn around and get on the road to Humboldt. Use the money for gas, instead."

It took a few moments for Law to register what he said. He looked over at him, leaning back in the driver's seat. "It's our last round. It'd be good to have it on the road. You didn't work for nothing…"

"I have…a bad feeling. So…we should just stop. Let _that_ be our last time."

"It wasn't enough, Sanji. We agreed on this."

"I know, but…I feel like we're not going to get far."

"That's the paranoia talking for you. We'll be fine. _I'll_be fine. Considering our destination, I just need one more to get us as far as we can go from here." Law then looked at him with concern. "You don't even have to do that stuff, anymore. _That_ back there…that was the last time. Okay?"

Sanji exhaled, folding his hands between his thighs. He nodded. "Okay. Well… let's do this."

Law put the car into drive, gas pedal pressed delicately. They were rolling along the shoulder, not going fast. Sanji could reach out and brush his fingers against the roadside brush that scratched the car's sides and caught on the corner of his open window. After checking his mirror, Law touched the gas pedal while Sanji pulled his hand in and resettled up against his seat.

The lurching figure crossing the road caused them both confusion. Neither of them were sure what it was, but Law ended up driving towards it for a better look. They were still only rolling atop of the side shoulder, the speedometer barely lifted. The headlights fell onto a tall stick figure with long limbs and a gaping mouth. Sanji sucked in his breath and put his feet on the dashboard to brace himself while Law pushed on the gas pedal in an effort to drive closer to it.

The next was the sound of crunching metal. Gravity took hold of the car and pulled it violently to the side. Both of them snapped to the side, helpless against the velocity. Glass crunched, shattering atop of them from every direction. A dim scream pierced the continuous vicious movement, shaking their eardrums with a painful screech. The lights died, the engine following moments later. But the pavement met them while trees shattered violently, bark raining around them as limbs fell heavily. Everything that they'd packed in their car tumbled out behind them as the heavy metal tipped and rolled, slamming hard into the guardrail. They continued on with velocity but the car kept moving. Metal pierced metal and ripped apart seats. Both of them were utterly helpless as their limbs crashed and flailed without their consent. Heads slammed, brains bounced.

In the silence after, Law was the first to open his eyes. He stared at the heavy darkness all around him as his body told him everything was wrong. The sound of crickets filled his senses but the sound seemed erroneous. It was more of a whining sound than a cricket. A high, metallic whining that almost sounded like an engine but merged into the sing-song of insects. Leaves fluttered over and around them. The stars continued to twinkle high above him.

He turned his head to check on his companion. Sanji was dead, it seemed, boneless in his seat. The seatbelt had failed, and there was blood in the blonde's hair, pieces of glass shimmering amongst the dirty, greasy strands. Law reached out to touch him, the rest of his body unmoving. The dash was pressed up against his chest and stomach, and he registered the heavy weight against his legs. He was trapped, and the steering wheel was digging into his ribs. His breath was short and cut into his lungs like knives. His fingernails scraped empty air as he stretched to shake Sanji awake. The car was split right in middle, with a wide distance between them. It took Law some minutes to register that it was the guardrail that separated them.

The ratty bear he'd given Sanji one Valentine's Day caught Law's eye. His vision felt blurred, dark in one eye. For some reason, the bear was looking at him with accusation as it lay on its side just atop one of the wooden posts. Sanji slept with it every night – Law could _hear_ the bear being angry with him for doing this.

_Look at what you did_. The bear blamed him.

He began to hyperventilate, pain starting to light his senses. The silence outside of the wreckage was maddening, save for those crickets.

The pitch hurt his ears.

He had no idea what just happened. All he recalled was pulling off the shoulder, the speedometer barely moving. He remembered watching Sanji touching the brush outside. He recalled thinking that he had to drive closer.

_Closer to what_?

His neck and head began to ache. There was a runny movement to his ears that made him feel like his brain was trying to escape. He could not feel his left leg and hip. He was still too superhuman to feel too much pain. He looked over at Sanji once more, reaching for him. The bear tipped at the brush of his elbow, disappearing onto the other side of the guardrail.

Law couldn't even hear Sanji breathing. The terror in that causing a seizing sensation in his chest and throat. He emitted a raw scream that silenced the crickets around them, and caused dogs to bark. He screamed because he couldn't formulate words, and Sanji wasn't responding to him. He screamed Sanji's name like he lost him, like the sound of his voice would bring him back. As he breathed in, he shuddered, remembering suddenly why they'd crashed.

There was a _thing_ in the road. Something that shouldn't have been there. Something frightening and scary, and it was still out there.

Metal creaked as the car began to settle. The sound only told Law that the thing was still out there. It was coming to finish them off, and he couldn't move. Terror made his blood run hot. Paranoia told him that they were in trouble, now. The image of the thing he saw drifted away, being replaced by the spread of a cool, blue sea. His breathing slowed as he focused on the image. He could smell it. The sharp salt, the thick humidity that made his skin sweat. He could see Sanji's restaurant in the distance. Could see the man plucking out a brilliant colored fish from a sea that was bluer than the sky.

His blood raced and thundered like racehorses on a track. His heart was slamming hard against the steering wheel – he couldn't breathe. He focused on the image instead. His head tilted back and he stopped reaching for Sanji.

He could only see him in his dream.

: :

The judge was tired of these sob stories. They both ended up serving sentences for their drug use and illegal actions. Drugs, illegal weapon, prostitution, reckless driving, and theft. They lost contact with each other because they ended up at different facilities. At the end of his time served, years later, Law had no idea where Sanji ended up.

But he was clean and sober by the time he walked out of the prison rehabilitation center he had to stay in for six months to rework his way back into society. He was a different person, now.

He had nowhere or no one to turn to by the time he found a job that accepted felons and worked the rest of the year to make honest money and get his route back onto track. It never stopped him from thinking about Sanji, though. The last time they'd seen each other, they were in the throes of withdrawal and being sentenced. Two people who only had each other, and they were being forced apart without any comforting faces in the room.

In the aftermath of these things, the reason for the car wreck was covered up by the weight of consequences and sobriety.

So Law never gave that _thing_ they saw another thought.

It always made him feel depressed whenever he thought back to the time where he was on scholarship to medical school; where he could have had everything. His family still spoke to him, his friends were there on speed dial and no one had ever suspected that he was using to stay awake and steady through deadlines and hours upon hours of studying. Now, he worked as a janitor at nights at a local university – not the one he used to attend, but one down state, away from his crimes. In a county that didn't know his name nor bothered to learn who he was.

On those long, lonely nights of sweeping floors and emptying trash bins, he thought about what could have been. He had regret, shame and guilt to deal with, and none of it was easy. He kept to himself and walked with a permanent limp. His tattoos were reminders of what he'd escaped. He barely spoke and lived every day with the same push as he did the day before – _just get through it_. He didn't reach out to those that turned their backs to him – what could he say?

The building was ghostly, emptied of presence and full of reminders of the day's previous activities. He cleaned bathrooms that made him squirm and pulled a cart behind him through long, empty corridors. Occasionally, he'd run into a security guard or another janitor, and they exchange small talk but Law wasn't interested in living.

He thought about dreams of an endless blue sea and a pirate that he might've been named after. He thought about the way Sanji slept with his bear and how nervous he was in gas stations when they chose potential buyers. He thought about cows calling in the distance and fences passing by like stars.

During his lunch break, he sat at a table in the staff room and watched the news from the day before. He was chewing on a bland sandwich (prison habit) when a reporter spoke excitedly about a salon opening downtown with most of its workers being rehabilitated felons eager to make new lives. Law's mouth stopped moving when, in the background of one shot, he saw Sanji for a fleeting moment. Excitement raced through him as he swallowed. He took note of the salon's location and hours, then spent the rest of his night trying to think of the right thing to say.

The next day, he watched the entrance of the salon from a distance. He couldn't make himself approach the building. Everything in his mind that he'd rehearsed felt unstable and useless. He'd nearly taken this man's life – if not with the car wreck, but with everything else. He was a horrible person back then – why should Sanji talk to him again? The things Law convinced him to do for them, the conversations they had, the actions they'd taken – why would Sanji want to revisit that?

Law went to work that night, feeling restless and upset. Maybe it was best he didn't approach Sanji. Maybe it was better this way – both of them were on the right track, now. Both of them were clean and working through their mistakes, fixing their own roads. If Law approached him now, what if it dredged up too many unwelcome memories?

He decided that it was best to keep his distance.

One spring day, he shopped for basic groceries while lost in the thoughts of a book he was reading. He had trouble sleeping, sometimes, the sound of the car crash entering his thoughts and forcing his body awake, so he read. There were books piled all around his home – half read, abandoned, piled in various towers on different surfaces. Any subject that caught his eye – bodice rippers, medical tomes, economics, astrology, business, manga…his coworkers would recommend one to him so he'd either check it out from the library or buy it off Amazon

He was staring at a shelf full of condiments, basket at his side when he felt an unsettling feeling. The feel of eyes upon him made him turn his head just in time to see someone walk past him. He turned to see if he recognized the person, but it was only him in the aisle. Puzzled, he second guessed himself. But he plucked the bottle off the shelf and carefully set it into his basket before limping towards the canned meats.

The cans of tuna made him think of that time Sanji had eaten his fill from the can. Both of them were sitting in some stranger's house, high on their choice with activity around them. Sanji was hungry and rifled through the stranger's kitchens for something to eat. He used his fingers to scoop tuna into his mouth while Law argued about capitalism with some guy that plugged his bleeding nose with tissue he'd used to clean his Four Loko spill with. It was an ugly memory. They were both young and in love and nothing could stop them. Their families had begged them to break up, but neither of them could bear the thought.

Bitterness caused Law's lips to thin. He reached for sausage instead. He headed to the freezer section and took out the same meals he always bought, then limped towards the foreign foods section. He lingered on his choices of rice, thinking that perhaps a change would help his pace. The store had few customers – being small and locally owned, it wasn't as busy as the national chain across the street. But the workers were friendly and the prices comparable.

His hip ached, signaling that rain was incoming. Law rubbed it with a discomforted grimace. He'd broken it in the car wreck. Lost his lower leg just below his knee because they hadn't been found for nearly an hour after that. The phantom pain that remained was a bitch to deal with. He grabbed the rice he always used and shuffled towards the check-out lines.

It confused him when he realized none of the stations were manned. The silence and stillness of the store caused him to realize that the Top Forty hit playing was the only thing alive, here. The windows outside showed him an empty lot, the road empty of traffic. The stillness caused him goosebumps.

Law froze in mid-step, unsure of what was happening. He glanced in both directions, and saw a single cart with groceries sitting abandoned near one aisle. There was another just outside the doorway. He turned in a slow circle, searching for a familiar face. He wondered if something had happened and he'd been too lost in his thoughts to notice.

The sound of his prosthetic squeaking with movement seemed obscenely loud. It was usually an unnoticeable whisper, apparent only to himself. But it squeaked so noisily that he winced. His knee throbbed, as well as his shin bone. He had to remind himself he didn't have a shin.

He slowly approached a station, noticing that it looked abandoned. Groceries were left on the line and the scanner sat on the scale top with a blink of light. Someone's purse was left on the floor right below the debit machine.

Puzzled, Law looked at the other stations and found a similar scene at all of them. He set his basket down and listened for any signs of life. All he heard was his breath in the silence.

"Hey. You okay?"

The voice snapped him out of the dream. Law looked up with a start. He was still facing the rice shelf, the bag of his choice in hand. His arm was shaking with the weight of it. He looked up into the concerned face of a worker that gently took the bag from him. He indicated to Law that his nose was bleeding.

Law touched his nose, drawing his fingers out to see blood. Startled, Law used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe, confused at the abrupt change of scene. He looked around himself and saw shoppers going about their business. The song was still playing overhead. The stations were busy. The squeak of the shopping carts in movement were noisy.

Law felt like he'd just woken up. It didn't make sense. He looked at the worker with an embarrassed look, making sure his nose wasn't running. The worker looked at him with sympathy.

Law paid for his things and went straight home. In the silence of his apartment, he struggled to understand what had just happened to him.


	2. Dreams

Sanji woke up with a start, exhaling hard with a scratchy sound. He stared up at the ceiling, heart thundering noisily against his ribcage. He was so terrified that every part of him was numb – his ears felt runny, like his brain was leaking pure fluid. He couldn't blink, too afraid to miss something. But, slowly, the world came into focus; the sound of the city, the snores of his roommate, the soft, faraway voices of those on the street. Every limb of his was stiff and heavy as he pushed himself to sit. His head ached with a terrible headache, and he checked to make sure fluid wasn't running out of his ears.

He'd had a dream about the car crash. He was sure of it. But the imprint left behind gave no details other than the faint, far off sound of the guardrail ripping the car apart and the braying sounds of a cow in distress in the distance. Sanji vividly remembered a single moment where he'd opened his eyes in the car and saw firefighters prying apart the ceiling just to get to him. The bright lights from their vehicles lit up the night. The roar of their engines gave him a weird anxiety he could never fully explain. The sound of the Jaws of Life ripped apart metal and steel made his left ear ache.

But everything leading up to it and after was a blur.

There were things in life he'd like to forget; the disappointed faces of his friends and adoptive father, the feeling of being alone and forgotten in the prison cell, the sensation of doing things he never would have done if he hadn't been an addict. Years later, he was clean, he continued to test clean and he was still dealing with the aftermath. His habit had left him easily susceptible to colds and sinus troubles, he had rampaging headaches that never seemed to calm, and anxiety of gas stations.

But mostly, he felt forgotten and abandoned. He hadn't seen Law since their sentencing. Both of them had looked at each other regret and despair and were led away to different buses. Sanji's sentence had been shorter, but he'd walked away from his rehabilitation single and alone. He found an opportunity to go to cosmetic school to become a stylist, and found a few jobs as a trainee. It wasn't his first dream, but it was a job. It allowed him to think that things were going to be _okay_.

It wasn't, but Sanji was a pro at lying to himself.

Years later, his nightmares of the night persisted. And they sometimes happened during the day, which allowed his mentor to think that this damage was only the cause of the car accident. Because of his vague memory, Sanji couldn't quite put things together. He knew Law was speeding – Law had a heavy foot and a huge confidence in his old car. Both of them were high as kites and running off their last binge, so things were spotty. But it didn't make sense that they wound up as they did. It felt like a piece was missing.

Because of this, he felt uneasy and unsettled every time that topic came up. He reached out and turned on his lamp, the light chasing away the darkness that settled in his room. He attributed the sight of humanoid shadows moving back into the crevices of his room as part of his lingering brain damage caused by drugs and the accident. He did remember seeing things moving about from the corner of his eyes while high, so these things weren't new or startling. There was a high pitched whining sound screeching over his thoughts, and he attributed it to an impending headache.

He had prescription strength medication for that, and reached into his nightstand to start the first dose. Drinking from the cup of tepid water nearby, he washed those pills down and resettled in his bed with a quiet exhale. His clock told him it was nearly three am. He thought about Law. The last time Sanji saw him Law was in a wheelchair, recovering from whatever injuries he had from the accident. Sanji wished he'd said something back then, but his voice was gone at that moment.

Without being able to talk to him, he wondered if the man thought of him at all. Was he just used because he was convenient? It was the first time Sanji had been in love, and it hurt to think that it wasn't that at all. But addiction hurt.

When it became appropriate, he started his day. Took a cigarette outside, showered and made breakfast. His roommate was a late riser, but Sanji made breakfast for him, too. Because of Law, Sanji was nervous around men. He couldn't seem to figure out what they wanted from him, so he didn't give much at all. But his roommate was an exception to that because he'd learned that Zoro Roronoa was a man that didn't need much. He heard the man moving around, complaining low in relation to the temperature of the apartment and the creak of his bedsprings as he moved around. He knocked over a bottle, which caused a chain reaction of sound.

A far off sound in the distance, like a bug against his ear, caused him to twitch. This was it. This was one of those moments.

The silence and stillness of the house pressed down on all of his senses. Sanji sat stiffly, hands on the table as he stared straight ahead of him. From the corner of one eye, he could see the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles; bright red and blues that shifted to intense white while flashing back and forth again. The whining persisted as a tonal continuance that stretched over the back of his mind. His body locked up.

_Sleep Paralysis_, a therapist said. When the mind was awake but the body asleep. It didn't make sense when Sanji was already wide awake. But his body didn't want to move and his mind was very aware of the impending doom that he felt. From the corner of his other eye, he saw something shift from the shadows. His skin seemed to ripple with dread. It felt like something was coming to get him, but he didn't know what it was.

An intense heat built at his nose – he was going to have a nose bleed. His eyelashes fluttered as the curtains at the window fluttered ever so slightly. None of the windows were open. The sound of approaching footsteps caused his blood to freeze as his entire right side became attuned to the approach.

_Blink blink blink,_ he cursed himself, feeling the heaviness of his eyes as they began to dry.

The world came into focus once more, the whining sound disappearing with a whisper. Zoro was giving him a disgusted look as he dropped his bottles into the trash can with a tremendous crash of sound that caused Sanji's skin to nearly jump away from his body.

"You got a nosebleed," Zoro told him, venturing towards the counter.

Sanji could move again. His shirt would need to be changed. He dabbed at his nose and realized he'd bled over his mouth and chin. He used the collar of his shirt to clean it up, giving a frustrated sound.

"My meds finally kicked in," he mumbled, rising from his seat.

"Headache?"

"Yeah."

"Just drink it into oblivion."

"Moron, I'm an addict. Former addict. I can't be doing that stuff."

Zoro shrugged as he stuffed his mouth with eggs and bacon without tasting any of it. Sanji missed Law at that moment. Law always told him 'thank you' whenever Sanji cooked.

"I must've drank too much," Zoro then said, cramming more food into his mouth. He sucked in air as he realized too late that the food was still too hot. "I had all sorts of creativity going on with my trash."

Sanji glanced at him, removing his shirt shoulders first.

"_Gah_. You're blinding me!"

"Shut up. You made more designs with them?" Sanji then asked him, balling his shirt up until only the bloodied section remained. He walked into the kitchen to dump some dish soap onto it, and scrubbed lightly by rubbing the material together.

"Yeah. Funny. I'm no artist, but my drunken self is a mad genius," Zoro said wondrously. "They were in all funny angles."

Sanji gave him a skeptic look.

At work later that day, he cut hair and shampooed with a sense of being distant. His headache medication always left him feeling that way. He felt awful for thinking he enjoyed the feeling, because it was similar to his addict days. He shouldn't have to use something to escape but the headaches were enough to keep him bedridden, sometimes.

Not migraines – he'd had those before. But pulsing headaches that left him in dysfunction, unable to function. His doctor prescribed him migraine medication anyway, and Sanji was too tired to tell him that it was that.

Somedays, he missed his adoptive father. Zeff had been so disappointed in him the last time Sanji saw him. It was nearly six months before the accident, and Sanji had been stealing from him to avoid turning tricks elsewhere to make them some money. No matter what Zeff said or did, Zeff couldn't help Sanji. So he kicked him out, and Sanji had taken what he could without looking back. Some days, Sanji felt like calling or writing him a letter to tell him he was okay now but he felt like Zeff wouldn't care, anyway. Sanji had called him names and fucked up his credit and stole valuables and what not from the old man that irreplaceable things meant nothing to him. All that had mattered was the next high; he'd never given it consideration that he'd lose the old man to his bad decisions.

Sanji had started using because he went to school and worked nights. He thought he'd found an easy fix in his drug of choice, but it turned him into a soul sucking monster. Everything only felt alright with Law because Law had been the same way. Both of them fed into each other and clung without ever considering a consequence. It was them against the world.

Now it was just him.

The city he moved to was considerably smaller than the one he left. But he thought it would help. All around him were small buildings with smaller strip malls. At both edges were truck stops and fast food places – it was a small place to stop for travelers near the fast moving interstate. There was a small university settled at the north edge of town, which gave it some signs of life. Drunken students often canvassed the town and its small shops, looking for trouble, but it kept the place lively. The anonymity here was welcome. It was surrounded by mountainous ranges and tall trees – the elevation was high. Unpaved roads took hunters, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts to pleasure areas coveted by travel sites. It felt like a city and it felt like an empty range.

But for some reason…the sky made him uneasy. He always made it a point to go home before the stars popped out, and he kept his windows closed. He never made it to evening shift. He slept with a nightlight, something he wasn't going to be embarrassed by. There was something unsettling out there that made him think it was all attributed to the car accident.

He returned home that afternoon and settled onto the couch, blanket wrapped around him and all the lights on in preparation of nighttime. His headache was persistent, today, and the weatherman told him that the area would soon be visited by thunder and rain. He attributed his headache to the barometric pressure, feeling slightly relieved at that. This was normal, this was something the headache forums talked about.

The weatherman droned on about the week's forecast. When the whining sound began at his left ear, Sanji closed his eyes. His neck and shoulders felt stiff from the medication, so he twisted his head this way and that to somehow loosen the muscles. The moment he turned left, he opened his eyes just in time to see the shape of someone shift back through the nearby doorway. Sanji was positive it was Zoro, and called out to him. The silence of the apartment told him he was the only one there. Exhaling heavily, Sanji figured it was just another one of those hallucinations. He turned up the television set, the sound of a day time soap fading away as the programming shifted to an infomercial.

At three am the next morning, he awoke with a hard suction of air. He struggled for breath that wasn't there, his chest heavy with weight. Instantly, he opened his eyes to see the guardrail separating him from Law. The other man was unconscious, head turned away from him. It looked like the dash had been forced up into him, pressing so tightly into the other man that Sanji was for sure Law was dead. In that vivid memory, Sanji could hear his breath as it grew frantic and scared. He looked out the crushed windshield, looking for _something_. A cow brayed in the distance, the sound shifting from a call to a shriek. It caused his heart to race with fear. The animal shrilled with a terrifying urgency to it that made it seem near human. Metal creaked soundly as something scraped against the back. Sanji frantically turned his head to look, sure it was somebody there to check on them. But the total darkness gave him nothing – their things were left scattered on the road, like an accusing trail.

"Law," he croaked, looking to him again. He desperately needed to hear from him, but he couldn't move. His entire body felt paralyzed. There was a high pitched whining sound from somewhere in the distance that overtook the sound of the cow being torn to pieces. A dog barked frantically from somewhere far away. The trees rustled overhead, branches creaking softly. "_Law_!"

Sanji tried to catch his breath, aware that he was breathing too fast and too shallow. He gulped, fingertips twitching. Looking down at himself, he was laying against his door, which rested against both pavement and firm shoulder gravel. There was glass everywhere. It shimmered, seemingly with the stars. The darkness was so unwelcome; he wished for the familiar rumble of the old car's motor. He swallowed what tasted like bile and blood away, his ears filling with an uncomfortable runny sensation. His nose tingled with discomfort and heat, sinuses full of pressing weight. He struggled to breathe, his gasps audibly panicky.

A sense of impending doom started to overcrowd his senses. He held his breath, listening for something that was out of place. There were the sound of crickets all around him – it occurred to Sanji that the cow was silent and the dog's barks had faltered. Eventually, even the insects were silent. Mounting panic caused his eyes, wide and round, to zip around him, looking for _something_. The car shifted ever so slightly, creaking as it settled around the guardrail. Something scraped against the metal that caused it to reverberate with a noise that sounded as if something had bounced off it. Something heavy and big. Sanji's heart thudded against his chest.

For some reason, his eyes shifted over to Law's side. There was _something_ there. There was _something_standing just within the darkness, looking at him. Sanji couldn't see the shape of it, but he knew it was there. He could feel the weight of its stare locked onto his face, and it was maddening how he could not see it. The darkness of some unknown shape shifted, just to give him an idea that it was there. Whatever it was – Sanji could not imagine – he couldn't think. Panic raced through him, rattled his bones and heated his blood but his body would not move. That _something_ left Law's window, and Sanji saw the flicker of a humanoid shape move away.

It was walking around the car. Sanji could hear the soft step of its feet as glass shifted underneath its weight. His breath came faster. It couldn't reach him, not in the position he was in. His eyes darted around him, looking for a possible way it could somehow reach in and touch him. The car shifted ever so slightly from the back passenger door, and he sucked in a troubled breath. He just couldn't move – out of fear or paralyzing injury, _either_ prevented him from getting away from whatever it was that was there. Something scraped against the metal of the roof. Shifted against it so firmly that the ceiling caved in ever so slightly.

He looked over to Law, to scream his name and saw something retract from the man's head. It looked like a long, pale hand. There was a shape standing outside of Law's window, and Sanji could see it. But his fearful eyes, _for some reason_, settled on the sight of his ratty Valentine's Day bear lying next to him. The black, round eyes of the stuffed animal caught Sanji's attention, even as movement continued beyond that lock of vision. He was focused on his bear as the ceiling vibrated with another thump.

_Look at me_, the bear seemed to say to Sanji silently. It was white at one time – it was a polar bear. But it was now ratty and dingy and Sanji slept with it every night so he assumed it had his drool and dead skin cells clotting the bear's soft fur.

_Look at me, now_, the bear whispered, unmoving. Sanji continued to stare at those sightless eyes, the toy unmoving against the guardrail that separated him from the other man. T_his was fear_, he supposed. Fear caused by his drug, by sleeplessness, by shock of the accident. He was strung out that hard. The bear was speaking to him by mind, because he could hear the echoing remains of a tonal voice fading away from his thoughts. Genderless and weightless.

_Look at me_, the bear told him. Slowly, those eyes began to twitch, expanding wider than they actually were. It wasn't a bear anymore. It was the face of something with a gaping mouth, and it seemed to appear slowly, the imprint of a fearsome visage burning into Sanji's corneas. The bear wasn't a bear anymore, but a humanoid unfolding itself next to Sanji with a sharp, high pitched hiss.

He gave a strangled shout, clawing at the mattress. His mind was muddled as the car accident faded away and something warm and foul hit his face, drowning him. He choked and coughed, twisting his head this way and that to breathe. _He couldn't breathe_. Eventually he realized Zoro was shaking him so hard that the headboard banged hard against the wall. Sanji realized Zoro had dumped his drink into his face in order to wake him up, and he clawed at the moisture there, screaming something reedy and desperate.

Zoro looked at him like he saw a ghost. Catching his breath, Sanji realized he wasn't there at the accident scene. He was safe in bed, and the nightmare was just a nightmare. He wiped his face frantically, pushing up onto his knees. Clumsily, Zoro grasped his bottle within both hands and stood there primly. All the lights were on in Sanji's room – the overhead, the lamp, the nightlight on the wall. Sanji swallowed back the vicious curses that weighed deeply in his throat and looked up at Zoro with confusion.

"I couldn't wake you up," Zoro mumbled awkwardly. "You wouldn't wake up."

"_So you decided to drown me_?" Sanji near screeched, using his sheet to wipe his face. "Zoro!"

"I…couldn't…even think," Zoro confessed, still looking at him like he'd seen a ghost. For some reason, he looked wordless.

Sanji caught his breath. His hands were shaking violently as he clasped the wet sheets. Blood stained them, and he quickly staunched his nose with his fingers.

"Maybe you should go to the hospital," Zoro then said with discomfort.

"I don't need the damn hospital!" Sanji snapped at him, rising from bed. His body felt like it did the day after the wreck and he paused in mid-step. Zoro caught his arm then, holding him tightly as Sanji's legs threatened to give away. He was dripping blood all over the floor, but his head swirled, like his brain was moving around in a single circle against the walls of his skull. He felt like vomiting.

"_Jesus_," Zoro muttered, terrified witless and unable to understand why. Sanji wrenched his arm away and stumbled towards the bathroom. Left behind in the heavy silence, Zoro turned and looked towards the window. The curtain fluttered ever so slightly. Crossing the space, Zoro shoved it aside to make sure the window was closed. It was locked and held in place by a sawed off broom handle. He stepped away from the window with a confused look, sure of what he saw.

: :

Sanji went to work feeling off-kilter. Something had happened in the night that caused some blood vessels to pop in his eyes, so they looked ghastly. He wore glasses, so his customers didn't comment on the state of his eyes. He was his usual, cheerful self, if not a little subdued. He kept himself busy so he wouldn't remember that dream.

While he was shampooing the head of a talkative woman, he happened to glance out the big window behind the receptionist. He immediately locked onto the form of a single man standing across the street near a sandwich place. For a moment his hands paused in mid-motion as he wondered if that man was Law. They had the same lanky shape and the same taste in bad clothes. But the man turned to the side and revealed a bearded face and a busy mane tucked underneath a hat. He laughed at something another man said, and they walked off, carrying bags of food.

Sanji continued working, looking downcast.

"They're doing a study," the woman was saying, oblivious to Sanji's mood. "At the school. I thought, I saw a UFO once in my life, but that didn't give me any weird dreams about any abductions. Guess a lot of people out here seems to think that it's a regular occurrence, so they wanna do a study about it."

"Hmm, sounds like something from the X-Files," Sanji commented lightly, rinsing her hair.

She snorted. "Aliens…there's no such things as aliens! Abductions were only proven to be night terrors. Simple as that."

Sanji's hands faltered in her hair ever so slightly, but something about that statement made him distinctively uncomfortable.

_Night terrors_, he thought.

* * *


	3. Despair

Law was lost in thought as he swept the empty, quiet hall of the main building's lobby. The incident at the grocery store wasn't the first time he'd experienced that. His brain always felt like it had been wrung by a vise after – similar to a postdrome, the exhausting hangover of a migraine. The hangover was exhausting and difficult to work through, so he took some ibuprofen and inserted headphones to avoid talking. His tongue had difficulty forming words during this phase. He'd always assumed it was because of the drugs and the car accident – posttraumatic stress maybe. The car crash had been a blessing and a curse – it sobered him but caused him to lose everything.

There were people moving through the area; late night students and seeming non-students with flyers and uncertain looks. He didn't pay them any attention. He kept the brim of his hat pulled down low and wore a terse expression that discouraged any sort of interaction. He was well aware of what he looked like to others, and it worked to his advantage. His blue black hair was often in a messy state, controlled somewhat by a hat; his face reflecting sleepless nights and haggard days, lined with early age. His height appeared intimidating as well, but he felt the weight on his shoulders. The permanent limp seemed to add to the overall picture – most bright eyed students hurried away from him once he appeared with his janitor cart in tow.

He envied those students. They had been him, once. He graduated early from high school and had aspired to be a surgeon – then his habit took over, and he was reduced to _this_. It was a bitter weight in his chest, a churning feeling of regret that never seemed to stop. Despite it, he wondered if his family missed him.

He paused in mid-sweep to change his playlist. He felt like hearing a little sad-core tonight. He then continued on down the hall, glancing at the wall of paper flyers to his right. One of them that stood out was a study being offered to those that may have experienced an alien abduction. The picture of ET reaching out with a glowing finger caused an involuntary twitch that seemed to ripple his brain. The flash of memory images showed the bright lights of his headlights falling onto a dark country road. Something about it caused his face to twitch again. His brain gave a strange twinge that caused discomfort.

_What is that_? he heard himself ask incredulously in that memory.

Before he could investigate it any further, something caused his shoulders to stiffen. The sensation in his body turned heavy, breath pausing in mid-inhale. He took off his headphones and glanced behind him, because he was absolutely sure he'd heard his name spoken by a familiar voice. Sure enough, Sanji was standing there a few feet away, looking at him like he'd just seen a ghost. Law wasn't sure how to react – he wasn't expecting to run into him. He never had, before.

He was scared he was hallucinating, but Sanji was quite real. Dressed in multiple layers of clothing to pad a very thin form, his hair dingy underneath the lights above. He wore shadows on his face, too, indicative of sleepless nights and fast aging. But his eyes were round and large for his face as he lowered a flyer to his vest pocket. Law wasn't sure what to say. All the words left him. Everything that he'd imagined he'd say if he ever came face to face with the man just faded away from existence. He looked away as shame and regret filled him with hot intensity, snatching up the broom.

Sanji approached him quickly, stepping into his path. His expression looked desperate despite what Law had imagined – he'd always thought Sanji would be angry at him, hate him for the things that he did. For being the cause of the crash, for those things that addicts do when they needed the next hit.

"It _is_ you," Sanji said, his tone incredulous, thin fingers clenching at his side. His skin looked clammy and shiny with sweat, and when Law managed to glance at him, he noticed that Sanji looked slightly manic. So his eyes lingered, unsure of the reason why. Sanji's right hand unclenched, fingers shaking slightly as they knocked the brim of Law's hat upward so that he could see into his face. Before Law could think of something to say, Sanji then wrapped him up in a clumsy hug, exhaling heavily.

Law was struck dumb as Sanji's arms squeezed him tightly. All the familiar smells of the other man hit him all at once, but he could not detect the one that told him Sanji was still a user. Cigarettes, shampoo and male musk – it occurred to him he hadn't been touched like this in a very long time. The moment made him so incredibly weak that he couldn't move.

Sanji gave an edged laugh, shaking as he clung to the other man. His hands felt the familiar thickness of hair he'd only dreamed about touching again, the accustomed feel of body landscape – the jutting shoulder blades, the touch of spine pressing against tanned skin. Every part of him felt uplifted and amazed, and he felt slightly hysterical, all emotions overwhelming the other. He had to lift himself to near tiptoes to fit where he used to. He then remembered that this wasn't the time or place to make assumptions and find comfort, and he quickly pulled away.

"I never thought I'd see you again," he whispered, finding it difficult to talk. His eyes scanned the other quickly, turning incredulous. "Were you here all this time?"

Law wasn't sure what to say. Sanji's emotions surely were a lie, because he couldn't believe that Sanji was this happy to see him. His tongue was heavy, though, clumsy with words. So he just nodded. Sanji looked confused, but he then hugged him again – holding desperately onto him as he struggled to rein in his emotions. He pulled away and fisted his hands into his vest pockets to keep from doing it again, his expression battling with uncertainty.

The silence between them turned awkward. Sanji waited for Law to say something, but he noticed that the man wasn't looking at him. His darkly rimmed eyes were averted away from him, and Sanji felt that his feelings weren't appreciated. _Why should they_? he thought morosely, thinking about their past together and understanding that it was peppered with drugs and bad decisions. His jaw set grimly as he stood uncomfortably in front of a man he'd only thought of with desperation. He turned his attention to the floor, feeling the crumbled weight of the flyer in his pocket. The distraction of seeing the man again, so close and so real – it had forced him to forget his anxiety of nighttime, the stars shining brightly above the small valley.

His mouth moved awkwardly with a murmured, "I'm sorry…"

He trailed off, sure that it didn't mean anything to the other man. Maybe Law had been trying to avoid _him_, moving away from their previous city to put things back together. Maybe he'd ruined it, now.

Law looked at him with a start, confused. "What are you apologizing for?" he mumbled, the words difficult to release. He recognized that Sanji was subdued. He'd ruined this. He'd ruined this because he was shocked and surprised by the man's appearance, by all his desperate gestures. He just knew it was his fault all over again – he could never atone for the things he'd done.

"I didn't…" Sanji didn't know what to say, or how to say it. All he knew was that he'd misinterpreted all of Law's languages and selfishly exuded his own. For all that he knew Law was desperate to get away from him and all the things that Sanji had done. Shame colored his face. "I'm sorry."

"Are you apologizing to _me_?" Law asked gruffly, pulling away his other headphone, the straps dangling against the collar of his work shirt. "What are you doing that for?"

"I don't know, I don't know if you wanted to see me, I don't know – I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your life, I didn't think – if you were trying to get away from me, or…"

Law finally realized that Sanji was sincere, and the feeling it gave him was hot and desperate. He set his broom aside and tentatively reached out to him. Once Sanji noticed the movement, he looked up with reddened eyes and a downcast frown and it was Law who enveloped him into a squeezing hug. He could finally breathe again, the air shaky as it left and returned to his lungs. Unmindful of his own strength, he held desperately onto the other man, feeling the reassuring weight of the other man against him all over again. Sanji gripped him tentatively until he gave in, and both of them held onto each other like they were the only ones in the building.

"I didn't think you'd ever forgive me for what I did," Law said in a strangled whisper, amazed that this was happening.

Sanji gave a sputter, burying his face up against a collarbone that felt too bony. It was too painfully familiar, and he wrapped his arms around Law with renewed strength, finding that perfect spot he fit right into. All his feelings and his very soul felt rejuvenated being held again. He felt like he hadn't been touched in so long that now that he had it, he couldn't bear to lose it again.

"I left you alone because I didn't think you'd want to see me again," he heard Law say against his head, and the very idea of it rocked Sanji. He felt like losing it, but he felt like slapping him for the hint of learning that Law knew exactly where he was.

"Did you come here because of me?" he asked, voice muffled against his clothes.

"I moved here and only saw you on accident…"

"How long ago?" Sanji couldn't help but cry, uncaring of how his voice broke. He couldn't breathe, but he didn't want to separate from this. When Law told him, he angrily hit the center of his back but once again gripped him with strength. "Idiot! _Stupid_! Don't you know how long I had been thinking about you? Why didn't you say something?"

Law felt overwhelmed. It honestly caused his eyes to burn hearing that.

"I thought _you_ hated _me_!"

Those words caused Law some anguish. He gripped Sanji's shoulders tightly, pressing his face against the sweaty temple he'd only dreamed of touching again. The scent of Sanji had him inhaling deeply, like it were oxygen itself.

"I thought _you_ did. After everything I did, I thought you never wanted to see me again."

Sanji pulled his head back to look at him with disbelief, the area around his eyes wet. Law saw that they were obscenely bloodshot, reaching between them to use his thumbs to wipe away the moisture there.

"What happened - ?"

Sanji closed his eyes, the feel of Law's hands on his face causing him intense weakness. He released one hand to press his over one of his, holding it there. "I missed you so much. I feel like I'm going to fall apart."

Impulsively, Law kissed his forehead and Sanji's arms went around him once more, holding tightly. Law's fingers swept through Sanji's hair, pressed up against the back of his head. His fingers clenched at the curly strands at his neck, and he breathed in the scent of the other man, the lower half of his face pressed against the enclave of Sanji's left eye and curled eyebrow. He kissed that then the closed eyelids, in complete disbelief that this was happening. Sanji's fingers swept up to stroke the back of his neck and combed through his hair and touch had never felt so damn good. Law needed this contact – his very soul cried for it.

They held each other for several long minutes, reluctant to let go. Despite standing in the main hall, they were fondly ignored as passerby politely averted their curious gazes. Law's tongue felt loosened, and he gently guided Sanji's face up to he could look him over.

Sanji wiped his eyes before dropping to clench into Law's shirt again.

"What happened?" Law then asked him again, observing the broken blood vessels. Sanji shook his head, pulling back so they at least had some space between them. Law desperately hoped that someone wasn't hurting this man, dropping his eyes to the sight of Sanji's neck to look for injuries.

"It's stupid," Sanji then said, wiping his nose with the edge of his scarf then pulling that down to get some air. He found the crumbled flyer in his vest pocket, unfolding that. Law recognized it as the same flyer he was just looking at as Sanji attempted to smooth out the wrinkles. "I was just…one of my clients was talking about this, and…I thought…"

Law was confused by the topic, but he refused to look away from the other man. He felt like Sanji would disappear if he did. He had the startling thought that perhaps this was one of those waking dreams he had, and ended up reaching out to grip the other man's hands.

"Sometimes…I have nightmares about that night, and…I don't know, I just…I don't know if I'm just…like, PTSD, or something, but…" Sanji trailed off awkwardly, fisting the flyer in one hand. He used the other to touch the other man's face, finding it difficult to look away.

Law nodded in understanding. "Me too."

"You have…nightmares, too?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes I'm awake when it happens, too," Law muttered uncomfortably, pressing Sanji's palm against his face and closing his eyes at the feel of him.

Sanji's expression turned concerned. "You think it's because we were high that night? Like…I know we weren't good people, and…we were coming off things, and…"

"I don't know." Law had to look away. His heart felt overwhelmed. His lungs squeezed, and he tightened his grip on Sanji's hand. "I just hope this isn't one of those things…"

"It's not," Sanji assured him hastily, tilting his head down so that their foreheads were touching. He breathed in the scent of the other man, amazed that he could do so. "I missed you so much…!"

"No one is hurting you, are they?" Law had to ask.

"No…no, it's…it's just me," Sanji answered, finding it difficult to speak. There was that tone of Law's, something he'd missed so much. Reassured by that single sentence that this man _cared_ about him. "I woke up like this. After having a nightmare."

Puzzled, Law glanced around. They were still out in the open. Expressing themselves so desperately and so openly that nothing about it could be interpreted as anything else. He started to feel some self-consciousness in the admission, but also discomfort from the weight distribution in his feet. He shifted from one foot to the other to alleviate the pressure. Sanji noticed the movement, eyes dropping then lifting to Law's face with concern.

"I broke my hip and leg back then," Law muttered self-consciously, wishing he wasn't that physically broken.

"It didn't heal right?" Sanji asked, touching his left hip gently.

Because there was no easy way about it, Law gripped his pants leg just to show Sanji his prosthetic. Sanji's chin trembled and his eyes filled and overflowed. He ended up clinging to the other man, suppressing his words.

"_I'm so sorry_!"

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine, I was driving."

Sanji pulled away from him again, frantically wiping his face. He shook his head. "We weren't even going fast! Nothing – we weren't even moving to generate that type of damage! Don't you ever think back about it and think something was weird?"

Before Law could answer, Sanji gripped both sides of his face, looking at him with unblinking eyes. "You don't remember seeing that thing?" he whispered.

Law frowned. All he could recall was how bright the headlights were; acknowledging that the speedometer had only perked slightly with the gentle press of his foot. But _something_ tugged at his memory with Sanji's words, and the headlights caught onto something that wasn't anything he could identify. Something he couldn't fully see.

"Both of us saw the same thing," Sanji insisted, still on a whisper. He glanced around them, keeping his voice lowered.

"Someone must have come around that corner and hit us from behind, Sanji," Law said. "And we didn't notice them because we were too busy being…stupid. I regret everything about that night, Sanji. All of it."

"It wasn't all your fault," Sanji told him desperately. "_I_ did it, too. Both of us were to blame for our stupid decisions, both of us…we did it to ourselves."

Despite the subject, Law just couldn't believe that Sanji was right here in front of him. Talking to him, touching him – they lived in the same town, but he'd kept his distance because he didn't want to be the one to ruin his life again. He heard a chime from Sanji, and Sanji reacted with a start to it. He pulled his cellphone out from his pocket and made a face, texting rapidly before replacing it.

Down to earth, Law asked tentatively, "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"That was my roommate," Sanji explained awkwardly. "Making sure I got here."

"Roommate?"

"Yeah, I…guess I freaked him out that night. That's why I'm here," Sanji mumbled, reaching between them to grip Law's hand with renewed strength. "I have these nightmares and…I said something to him when I woke up, and he swears it's…a dead language. He's into that sort of thing, I guess, scaring himself. Told me to do this or get out."

Law wasn't sure what sort of face to make. The impulse to offer Sanji a place was there, but he held himself back because…

"He wants to know if it's because of ET?" he asked skeptically.

Sanji gave him an amused smirk, but he nodded. "I don't know…maybe my hallucinations are out of control…"

Because Law had a similar problem, he gave him a curious frown. Sanji locked onto that expression, his hand tightening on his as he looked at him. "You get them, too?"

Law gave a reluctant shrug.

"You see people out of the corner of your eye? Do you have the feeling of…not being alone? Being…paralyzed and unable to move while knowing something is there?"

Law looked at him with consideration, a little puzzled. But seeing Sanji's expression was enough to convince him that he wasn't alone in this. So he nodded, reaching up to adjust his hat. Sanji looked up at him with something akin to relief.

"Nosebleeds?"

"I attribute that to my bad habit."

"But _after_ a nightmare?"

Law was silent, so Sanji took that as a confirmation. He looked at the balled up flyer in his other hand, reluctant to let go of the other man's hand. But he threw it away into the small trash can in the cart Law had abandoned.

Sanji looked up at him with a fresh smile on his face. "There's no point in getting involved with others that don't get it. This was probably a stupid thing, anyway. What time do you get off?"

"Late. You should just go home – "

"I'll wait. Take me home with you."

Law always felt like he was yanked into a current he didn't feel he had to fight when he was with him. Before he could attempt to argue with him, Sanji kissed him. It was a brief touch, but it was enough for Law to fall for him all over again.

"I'll wait," Sanji insisted, before reluctantly pulling his hand away. He walked towards the lobby, intending on taking advantage of the university's Wi-Fi. Law watched him go, then straightened his hat and turned his music off. After a self-conscious glance around, he pulled his cart after him, retrieving his broom. He felt a sensation of relief in him. He felt like he wasn't alone.

_You weren't ever alone_.

Law turned at the sound of those words, but Sanji was sitting down in one of the chairs, mouth unmoving. Law had a feeling it wasn't from him. The crazy thing about it was that he heard that voice before. It was familiar, something he'd always known. He glanced around once more, sure he'd only heard the voice of someone that worked here.

: :

He wasn't expecting company so he was a little embarrassed as he opened his home to Sanji. It was a small house on the outskirts of town, within a known area of low-income properties and a high crime rate. The bars on the windows were indicative of the neighborhood, but Law felt like he belonged here after what he'd done. Inside the open spaces of a combined dining/living room, most surfaces were covered by books and DVDs. He had a comfortable folding chair he had set in front of a television stand, with a small screen tv. The blinds were always closed. The kitchen was bare, but the tile creaked in a comforting way when Law was in there and the sink gave him acceptable water. He didn't have bugs or vermin, and his heater worked fine.

He hoped Sanji wouldn't rush things to look into his bedroom. He actually felt nervous at the thought.

Sanji wore the expression of someone that understood. "My roommate drinks," he said, scratching at his ear. "And doesn't like to clean after himself. Living with someone else – it's like living in a cell."

"How long did you have to serve?"

"Long enough. But you had a longer sentence…"

"For the gun. That weapon was once used in a robbery before I got to it. That took some time to sort out."

Sanji nodded again. After a few moments, he asked nervously, "Can we turn on some lights? I'm sorry."

Law didn't find it a problem. As Sanji looked for a place to settle, Law turned on all the lights in the area, including those of the hall and bathroom. He closed the door to his room with a reluctant expression. He shuffled back to the kitchen, looking nervously at his cupboards. "I can heat up something. I don't cook much. Just…some rice and canned stuff."

Sanji looked at him with sympathy. "It's fine. I'm not hungry. Go ahead and warm something up. Or, let me do it, you – do whatever you do after work. I can find my way around."

"No, _don't_." Law didn't want Sanji's pity, or his boundary-crossing eagerness to please. He wasn't the person that deserved that. "I have soda. Would you like one?"

Sanji recognized he was being invasive. It took a lot to step back. "…Sure."

After settling in the kitchen with some awkward action, Sanji fiddled with his can of generic brand soda and murmured, "I'm sorry for acting like such a goober, earlier. I was so excited to see you."

"Don't apologize."

"I had been living my life hiding in shame," Sanji continued, "because of the things I did. I felt so lonely, but I couldn't…I didn't feel worthy of bringing anyone into my mess. I think about the old man and my friends a lot, but I don't have the balls to contact any of them. Like…why would they want to hear from me? Maybe they're happy I'm not around."

Law nodded because he understood. His family was where he'd left them. No doubt living their lives like they'd lost him. He'd stolen from them, emptied a single bank account. Wrecked his father's car, broke his mother's heart. Destroyed his little sister's confidence. He'd called them names and insulted them, broke material possessions. _Disappointed_them. He couldn't ever face them again.

Sanji reached out to touch his shoulder. "It's almost like it's just us again."

Law thought about them sitting in run down houses, in running cars, approaching strangers for money. The hours spent with him talking non-stop about fictional worlds while Sanji humored him. The way they shared dirty clothes and rifled through trash cans for a "snack". It was just them because they'd ruined all their relationships with others.

He swallowed uncomfortably. "We're not those men, anymore."

"That's right. We're new people. Sober. Right?" Sanji waited for Law to confirm this before saying, "But we're in a place of our own making. We can help each other."

The idea was lovely. Law felt lonely, out casted. And he did have strong, lingering feelings towards Sanji that felt just as fierce had they were back then. But Law felt a reluctance inside of him in that thinking they deserved a happy ending.

"Let's not rush," he heard himself say. He looked at him. "I…being that we're not the same people we were back then, it might be best to take it slow."

Sanji reluctantly took his hand away. He fiddled with the can once more. "You think…we're not good for each other sober?"

Law looked at his own hands, pulling back on his fingers one by one. "I'm saying…I don't feel worthy enough to extend what little I have to offer to another human being."

"I'm not just another _human being_, Law."

"And we're not the same…sober. We're different people."

Sanji considered his words, visibly upset. Law didn't know how to make it more clear to him that he didn't feel he was capable of being a good person at this point in his life. Sanji set the can down on the counter.

"You only felt something for me when I was doing something for you?" he asked stiffly.

"I'm saying that I don't feel I'm capable of being a good choice for you. I'm not that addict, anymore. I don't know how…to be correct," Law said, fumbling with his words. "I'm not that same person, my way of thinking has changed and so…I feel like a new person. An incapable one."

Sanji was silent for some time, head bowed as he watched his own fingers entwine and clench together. Law wanted to make him understand, but his thought process was just screwed up.

"I want to be a good person," Sanji then said with a low tone. "And I know I can be. More than anything, I want to recapture what was there on the grounds of a new beginning."

"What was there, Sanji, were two people who were comfortable making bad choices while under the influence. The premise of us being…_us_ against them was that we'd made that ground with our own hands."

"All this time I had thought you'd discarded me," Sanji then said. "Deliberately used our incarceration to put distance between us. Because I did things for you that - !"

"Our incarceration separated us for our separate crimes. It wasn't something we would've decided on our own. Those things that we did…that I made you do – "

"You didn't make me do them, _I_ made that choice to do them!"

"If I didn't convince to do them, you would've never done them."

"Don't think that I was some easily influenced person, Law! I took advantage of others to do that, that was _my_ fucking choice."

"Don't yell at me."

"We helped each other out doing shitty things, but now that we're straight and clean, we can help each other do different things," Sanji persisted. "Because of our actions, we've only got each other – "

"Correction – after our court appointed stays at different prison facilities, we are single and functioning on our own. Both of us have already proven that we're capable of taking care of ourselves as single persons. Just because we're now aware of each other living in the same town, that does not mean we automatically stick together."

Sanji stubbornly shook his head. His mouth was tight with frustration and Law felt bad for the things he was saying. But he was convinced that they were truthful and right. He didn't want to ruin Sanji's life again by inserting himself into it with the blind optimism that it would work out. As much as Law craved the other's company, sober, they were strangers.

He reached out to touch him but Sanji swatted his hand away. He pushed away from the counter, putting space between them and Law felt his already fragile heart breaking.

"Prove to me that you had feelings for me," Sanji then demanded, struggling to look composed but failing. "_Prove it_."

"My reaction to you…wasn't that enough?"

"But you don't want to be with me. Because you think I'm not good enough."

"I didn't say that. I said _I_ wasn't."

"I'm not good enough for you _clean_."

"I never said that." Law grasped at words to try and make him understand. "It's not that either of us are angels, or anything, I just feel like I'm incapable of being a person that feels and gives to you in the same…manner as you felt I had when we were together. The feelings I had for you back then were screwed by what we were doing, and - "

"So, the _drugs_ made you feel some way about me." Sanji nodded bitterly, hands on his hips then at his sides. He was growing visibly angry and he started backing away towards the clear pathway to the door. "Now that you're clean, you can't possibly…"

"Sanji, that's not…"

"No. Fuck you. _Fuck you_. Law. _Fuck you_. All these _years_ and months and days spent thinking that…you could just…" Sanji couldn't finish his sentence. He turned and stalked off to the door, and Law could only watch him leave, feeling the heavy ache in his chest as he did so. It slammed shut behind Sanji and in the silence, Law felt like a piece of him went with him.

He wiped his nose with a shaking hand, shifting all his weight onto the hip that didn't ache. He didn't have the mobility and speed to give chase, but he felt it was pointless, anyway. When it became apparent that Sanji wasn't coming back, Law thought it was best. It hurt, stinging from deep inside of him. He felt like he was grieving. He braced himself against the counter, struggling to hold himself up. Once he felt he had the strength, he sluggishly pushed away and limped around the house to turn off the lights. He headed to his room, discarding his work clothes for something comfortable, then gingerly pulled himself into bed. He removed his prosthetic and set it against the night stand. He ended up staring at the remains of his knee, the silence of the house closing in around him.

The memories after the car accident were broken into images that burned him whenever he took the time to sort through them. He'd woken up in the hospital, handcuffed to his bed. He'd discovered the state of his leg and was confused by seeing only half of it. There was a deputy standing nearby, looking at him with disgust while Law demanded the return of his stolen leg. Withdrawal had created a monster of Law in that time, but he remembered thinking no one would want him after this. He was _broken_.

Why couldn't Sanji see that of him, now?

He rubbed his aching hip – it was distorted, now, scarred by pins and always aching whenever it turned cold. It rendered him stiff in the winter and made him a target by those looking for one. There were things that happened to him in prison he desperately wanted to forget and as such, he felt unworthy and unclean.

He thought about his family once more before reaching over and turning off the lamp.

: :

The rest of the week passed by without any sight or sound of Sanji. Law kept to himself, going and returning from work, acknowledging the faint hope that lingered in that Sanji could forgive him. But part of him hoped that Sanji didn't. He was on the second floor with a glass cleaner in hand and his music playing when he became aware of a faint buzzing sound. Slowly, feeling like he was moving underwater with how sluggish his movement was, he pulled his headphones out. He was positive there was no one on the floor with him.

He did acknowledge the faraway sound of women's voices, but he couldn't separate them to understand the conversation. The buzzing grew louder until it seemed like a nerve-twitching sound that drowned out everything else. He closed his eyes to steady himself, his skin rippling with unease. It was enough for him to open his eyes, facing his reflection in the window. He could see movement behind him; but the lights of the building, combined with the reflection, made it difficult to tell exactly what he was looking at. It seemed like something tall and stringy was approaching him, the overhead lights flickering overhead in its ascent. Law caught only after images of something he could not identify, but his eyes locked on the swiftly moving thing that lurched towards him. Before it could even close in on him, something gripped his shoulder with a squeeze. His entire body jumped, eyes darting away from one thing and looking into the face of another.

Before he could actually _see_ the face, the memory of the night came back to him in vivid color, sound and weight. Almost as if he were reliving it all over again. There was the sound of a cow in the distance, the sound of Sanji touching passing brush. Law's headlights illuminated the road he was turning back onto from the shoulder, and the figure caught within those lights was that of a tall, stringy humanoid that looked down upon them with a gaping mouth. The feeling of horror hit Law as he peered through the windshield at the thing, hearing Sanji brace himself against the dash. They weren't even moving that fast, so it stopped walking just to stare back at them. It looked like it could be part of the trees – with skin fitting of bark and limbs that resembled branches. It ducked to peer back at them, mouth opened wide as the car's front bumper continued towards it. Law couldn't stop moving towards the thing, his fingers clenching the steering wheel tightly.

_What is that?_ he heard himself say as one long arm whipped to the side.

_I am here_, that thing said in a voice that made Law's senses ring, but it was a strange sound emerging from a gaping mouth that didn't move_. I am here. There is none other than me._

The sound of the car jerking upward and twisting violently away from it was a tremendous crash of sound that caused Law to jerk back in reaction, automatically reaching out to brace himself. But instead he crashed into his cart, arms flying clumsily as he sent everything scattering across the hallway floor. Panicking, caught between memory and waking life, Law was unable to brace himself as hit damaged hip first. The blow of the floor caught his head and knocked the waking nightmare out of him.

Confused, Law laid there for a few moments, breathing hard. That buzzing sound began to fade away, and he grew aware of the heat coming from his nose. Touching his nostrils, he realized he was bleeding heavily. He used the sleeve of his shirt to staunch it, clumsily twisting about until he could pick himself up. His hip and leg immediately protested, causing him to wince. His brain squeezed, like somebody was wringing all the fluid from it. His ears felt uncomfortably runny.

"Hey, hey, _hey_, you okay?" someone asked, darting towards him with panic in their expression. It was one of the security guards, someone whose name Law had yet to catch. Law looked around himself frantically, looking for the face he was sure he'd seen before that memory hit him. But he just could not _remember_ what it was he'd seen.

He was caught between wiping his nose and bracing himself as pain flared up and down his leg. The phantom pain he experienced in the part that was missing caused a ghostly foot to twitch, registering a twisted ankle. Law ended up gripping his prosthetic by its ankle joint, confused with the weight of it rather than the warmth of an actual joint. Once he remembered he no longer had that leg, his face flushed with humiliation and shame. He batted the hand away that reached down to help him up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he gasped, wincing as he stood on his own. The security guard made to steady him but Law slapped his hands away. "_I said I'm fine_!"

"Sorry, man," the security guard said hastily, taking a couple of steps back. He observed the mess of Law's overturned cart, the strewn items across the hall as Law recovered. "You okay? Hit your head?"

Law mopped up the blood from his nose with his sleeve, nodding. "I'm _fine_. Just…"

He trailed off, his head ringing with a painful headache.

"Migraine," he then finished clumsily. "Must've…I probably just fainted."

The security guard picked up the glass cleaner and rag Law had been using. Law snatched those items away, and shuffled painfully over to the things that had been flung from his overturned cart. The other man's attention was caught to the window, brow furrowed. Law was too busy picking things up to notice the man's confused stretch, hand upraised against the window. Despite his height and effort, he couldn't touch what he saw.

He tried to fit his raised palm and spread fingers against the heat imprint of a hand that was much longer than his. The imprint faded away as he watched. Just to make sure, he pressed his palm against the glass where Law had just cleaned, and watched his fade just as quickly. His skin rippled with goosebumps and an uneasiness he couldn't explain as he then looked over at the quiet man that fumbled with what was left of his dignity in picking up his things.

At the end of his shift, moving painfully, Law paused by the flyer board that still had the ET sign attached to it. He took it down, handling it carefully in one hand. He wasn't that familiar with the faculty members, so the name and number of the group in charge of the study were strangers to him. He thought about what Sanji had said and the things he experienced.

But was it really what it was suggested to be? Or just rampant continuing bad memories of what he did to himself? These things that happened to him regularly and the events of that night – was it really enough to call attention to it?

After some minutes of careful consideration, he hung the flyer back up and headed out the door.

* * *


	4. Disquisition

Sanji leaned up against the doorway of Zoro's bedroom while Zoro stood aside of him. Both of them were amazed at Zoro's latest creation – various multi-colored beer bottles and smaller, almost random objects were piled up around Zoro's bed in creative towers. The walls were lit up with various silhouettes created from light sources that had been moved from their foundations, to create a sparkling mixture of shadows and shapes. From where they were standing, there wasn't a pattern to them. They marveled at the delicate balance between objects, unsure of how Zoro did it. Sanji grabbed his hand to observe stubby, calloused fingers before Zoro snatched his hand away with a startled cry of dismay.

"I don't know where this talent comes from," Sanji said breathlessly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I am a sleeping genius," Zoro agreed vaguely, rubbing his touch away. "Could you respect me a little?"

"Are you sure it's you? It might've been ET…"

Zoro snorted, shaking his head as he gave Sanji a look. "Why would they do it in my room? You're the one being abducted."

"I'm not being abducted," Sanji returned with light mirth. With just a stretch of his foot, he knocked down one tower. Like dominos, they all crashed to the floor. The sound made them both jump.

"I was going to take a picture of that," Zoro snapped at him.

"You'll do it again," Sanji assured him, turning away from his room.

"How'd the study thing go the other night?" Zoro then asked, shutting the door behind him with the promise of cleaning the mess up later. Sanji sat at the table, their plates already set at their respective places. He fiddled with his fork while Zoro wasted no time cramming hot food into his mouth and paying for it with repeated exhalations to cool it.

"I…wimped out," Sanji answered softly. "I decided that it was a waste of time."

"Think you should've done it," Zoro said. "Because that shit you said was freaky. I don't know what you were saying, but it was absolutely freaky."

"I was coming out of a nightmare, I probably had no idea what – "

"It wasn't even your voice, stupid. It was…something weirder than that."

Sanji frowned at him while Zoro cleared half of his plate with just a couple of swipes of his fork. Zoro's face screwed up with concentration as he sought the right words to use.

"Like a megaphone," he decided, "and it was definitely that language because Robin – "

"Don't involve Robin in this…"

"Robin showed me a few films – "

"I can't believe you're _sleeping_ with her, that's the insane part of this conversation…a woman that beautiful with a scumbag like you."

" – and I swear that language comes from that. It's a dead language. It's an ancient language and I swear it's that. You should've just done it anyway. Might've gotten some answers."

Sanji shrugged. He still hurt at the rejection he felt when Law told him their relationship couldn't be the same without their addiction. He didn't tell his roommate about running into his ex-boyfriend. It would complicate things between them. Zoro was convinced Sanji was a eunuch anyway.

"It was just a bunch of kids getting together to make up a story based on what people could tell them," he mumbled uncomfortably. "I can't believe I let you convince me to do it."

"I was surprised that you did," Zoro admitted, finishing his food and stretching his neck by twisting his head from side to side. "You usually don't go anywhere at night."

"Yeah, well…I had some time."

Sanji stared despondently at his dish. He thought of the state of Law's kitchen and his awkward admission of the food he kept. There was a single plate left in the dishrack – two cups. One fork. He ate alone every night – probably easy microwaveable food. Back then, neither of them sat down to eat unless it was something impulsive. They thrived on snacks and trash.

_Trash_. Like stray animals. Thinking nothing of it whenever Law had enough money for gas, ignoring startled looks from other people. Both of them had thought it was funny but genius because eating from trash cans allowed them more money for their next hit.

Zeff was a cook – he'd tried his best to redirect Sanji's interests. Had been horrified catching them eating out of a gas station trash can one night that led to angry words and hurtful insults. Zeff kicked him out nearly a week later without a look back. He wondered if Zeff thought about him. He took a delicate bite of his food as Zoro left the table to dump his plate and utensils into the soapy sink.

"I thought about these things," Zoro then said, pouring himself some orange juice and tossing the carton towards the trash. He missed and left it there as he returned to the table, Sanji giving him a sour look. "And I think you should get it looked into. Because…to be honest, I am a really tough guy. I win all my fights. I love to fight. But if I had to fight something that is from another planet, well…I don't know."

Sanji wiped his mouth as he tried not to laugh. "You're not _fighting_ an _alien_. There's no such thing!"

"I'm serious. If you're being abducted like…how are we supposed to prevent it?" Zoro stared at him for several moments then asked in a tentative whisper, "Is it true they probe your anus?"

"NO! I'm _not_ being abducted!"

"Well, I wouldn't know unless I asked. Sheesh."

"You're so _dumb_!"

"I think if I ever saw one personally…" Zoro trailed off then shuddered. "Well, a tough guy like me wouldn't feel so tough."

"You're ridiculous…I can't believe you're still talking about this. The study could be only a series of questions that involved the possibility of an alien abduction. Basically yes or no answers. I would've got twenty bucks from it. That's all it was."

"But what if it were genuine and they were operating at a level where they kept it humorous but were actually secret agents in disguise….?" Zoro shifted around in his seat as Sanji sighed noisily, pushing his food around. "I'll go with you. Let's go together. I kind of want to check this out for myself. It ends in a week, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to take a picture of my works of art. Maybe it's associated with it?"

"Genius, why don't you set up some type of recorder and record yourself doing it?"

After several heavy moments, Sanji looked up to see that Zoro looked as if he hadn't thought of that. He slapped the table and Zoro jerked.

"_Great idea_," Zoro murmured thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

Sanji frowned at him bitterly. "She only likes you because you're young and she has needs."

"I don't know what that means, so I'm going to ignore it. We'll go on Thursday, how about that? Clear your schedule!" Zoro then said, pushing away from the table and walking off to retrieve his jacket. Sanji shook his head with irritation, putting his fork down. In the silence of the apartment after Zoro left, he stared at his nearly untouched plate. His heart ached at the feeling of Law disregarding him. But it was confusing because the way Law had touched and looked at him before Law could think caused uncertainty in Sanji's acceptance.

Someone who claimed he didn't feel anything couldn't wear an expression like that, could he? Or have hands that touched so desperately? Law was always capable of overthinking and coming to his own conclusions and Sanji wondered if this was that. Both of them were broken after serving time, and it wasn't like Law was fully intact. Considering his condition, perhaps Law had allowed his insecurity to speak for him.

But Sanji had his own insecurities as a human being as well.

He went to work feeling distant and heavy. Concentrating hard on the easiest of tasks and failing to find his optimism. He kept looking out the main window, thinking he'd see Law standing out there, regretting his words. But that expectation was painful to have.

He was angry at himself for feeling this way – all this time he hadn't felt incapable but now that he knew Law lived here (on the other side of town), Sanji felt like an unlovable failure. He didn't want to do the study; that would mean returning to the university and he might run into Law – he told Zoro he refused to do it. Thursday night, Zoro left with a recording and some pictures he'd taken the night before and Sanji sat on the couch with all the lights on and watched a romance on Netflix.

It was a love story –an absurd, overdone trope but Sanji loved the happy ending. He sipped at his tea and recited some lines out loud. When he heard Zoro's keys in the lock, he switched the movie to a series they had been watching together and waited for the man's arrival.

It was odd because more than one person came in.

"This is the guy," Zoro said, gesturing at Sanji grandly while Sanji looked horrified at being unprepared for company. He shoved his blanket off, standing up in oversized sweats and an overlarge sweater, glasses in place and fringe pulled back with a clip from work. Three men that were NOT university students came into view and stared at him like he was some zoo animal. All of them were tall and seemed to eat up what available space was there. "Look at this place. Our electricity bill is a heart attack every month."

"Mr Blackleg," the first man said, extending his hand and looking excited while Sanji looked annoyed. "Ya'll can call me Kaku. This is Dr Rob Lucci, and this is Dr Blueno."

"These are the guys doing the study," Zoro told Sanji when Sanji glared at the extended hand without bothering to touch it. "They're not kids. They have some sort of active investigation going on here. They popped some boners when I showed them my recording and heard about you."

He was treated to some crude expressions while Sanji stared at him with outrage. But he turned his focus upon the men that then turned their attention towards him; two of them looked stern faced and lacked any sort of humor but Kaku looked excited. All of them were dressed in expensive suits and it was hard not to think of them as Men in Black.

"The information Mr Roronoa here presented us with was _amazing_," Kaku stressed, looking around the place with mounting amazement, clutching his messenger bag with both hands. "The formation of the symbols with just his, uh, alcoholic beverage containers was gorgeous but the recording – _wow_. He mentioned you were the only one in the place with headaches, nightmares and the display of an ancient language…?"

Sanji glared at him before ripping out the clip in his hair. "This is _bullshit_," he told Zoro. "Treating simple night terrors as a fucking spectacle!"

"This area is known for its abundance of Unidentified Flying Objects," Kaku intervened with Zoro shrugged and headed to the kitchen to rummage for a snack. "There have been a few people with complaints similar to yours."

"I am not someone actively participating in something that sounds _so stupid_ – "

"How often do you get these nosebleeds, Mr Blackleg?" Dr Lucci asked Sanji, his voice monotonous and almost indifferent. He wore thick rimmed glasses that almost hid his eyes, long hair allowed to flow over broad shoulders. Sanji frowned at him.

"I'm a former addict, it happens," he muttered.

"Mr Roronoa also added that you are susceptible to headaches. Migraines. Enough to take medication for."

"I was in a car accident. I get them."

"And before that?"

"I just told you, I was a damn addict."

"Why were you an addict?"

"I wanted to succeed and sleep was in the way!"

"Before that, did you have night terrors as a child?"

Sanji sighed heavily. "Not that I can recall."

"Were you ever sexually abused as a child?"

"_For the love of_ \- !"

"I only ask because it's typical for children to distort their trauma into something more conceivable as a nightmare with actual monsters rather than a fracturing event involving a trusted family member. So…were you?"

"_NO_! Zoro!"

"I didn't show Sanji the recording," Zoro said, lowering the juice container from his mouth while standing in front of the fridge.

"USE A GODDAMN CUP! I drink that, too!"

"So maybe I should show him," Zoro finished over Sanji's outraged shout. Dr Lucci gestured at the television while resuming his indifference and Dr Blueno folded his hands in front of him while trying to stand as small as possible. Kaku looked worried for a few moments, but his expression changed quickly as he pulled Zoro's camera from his black messenger bag. "I don't know tech, so you better set it up."

While Kaku did so, Sanji glared at the other two men. "What sort of specialists are you?"

"Don't worry about the details," Lucci told him. "But our research is sound. We're based out of Nome, Alaska and travel to certain parts of the North American continent in order to further our reach in the matters of extraterrestrial activities. Considering your reaction to it, giving out names and history wouldn't matter to you and would save me the breath of further explaining myself. It helps if you would just react as you are so that we can leave this shithole of a town to find more receptive studies elsewhere."

"_Lucci_," Kaku scolded him from over his shoulder. He stood away from the television set to look at Sanji apologetically. "Don't mind him, please. He gets grumpy after a being around kids. Universities are the worst places for him."

"The thing that caught our eye," Dr Blueno interrupted before Sanji could snap, "is that the symbols Mr Roronoa claims to have made in his sleep are familiar symbols we've seen in other confirmed cases. As Mr Roronoa isn't well versed in the subject of our studies and has knowledge taken only from fiction, the fact that he was able to identify the language you'd used coming out from a nightmare with the appearance of these symbols tells us that your circumstance is an _actual_ case."

"This chick I sleep with has a thing for languages," Zoro supplied helpfully. "I only knew that the language _he_ was using was a language from one of her history films."

Dr Lucci looked at him with mild upset. "A woman chose _you_ to sleep with?"

"It's my charisma. I can't help it. Anyway, he has nightmares about the car accident," Zoro then added. "Blames all that weird shit on that night."

"Tell us about the car accident," Lucci prompted Sanji.

"Absol-fucking-lutely not."

"Hmm. That _sounds_ like an alien language. You might be an alien."

"_Fuck you_."

"I try not to get intimately involved with our alien participants."

Kaku stood up between them before Sanji could swing at that indifferent expression, knocking a shoulder against Lucci's. Zoro looked interested in the conversation before seeing that Kaku had been successful in rigging the camera up to the television. So his attention averted to that with pure awe.

"You are an advanced piece of work," he complimented Kaku. "I could never figure out how to switch between the DVD player and Netflix."

"It's easy after awhile. So!" Kaku scooped up the universal remote from Sanji's favored spot on the couch and pressed a couple of buttons. Sanji saw that Zoro had set up the camera facing his bed from the dresser. He was surprised Zoro knew how to do that at all. After fast forwarding a few hours, the camera cut to black but there was edges of "snow" from the top and bottom of the frame. When the image returned, Zoro's beer bottles were arranged in the now familiar towers around his room. Sanji noted that the time at the edge of the screen was right around the time of his awakening from the nightmares.

"Usually," Kaku then explained, pausing the moment. "The creation of these symbols are indicative of our alien visitors for the location established for them to visit their victims. A 'go ahead', if you will. Have you ever seen these _before_ the night of your car accident?"

Reluctantly, Sanji looked back at the screen. He had to admit to himself that he couldn't even see a symbol in those beer glass towers, nor anything that looked outstanding from the shapes reflected on the walls. All he thought about them were that they were an amazing display of balance and near impossible formation. Nothing unusual about the sight prompted any other memory about it. He shook his head.

"It isn't Zoro creating these things," Kaku then said tentatively. "The fact that all electronics malfunction at a certain time on this night then reappear again without any other indication of trouble point to a familiar disturbance."

"Or, he turned it off to complete the joke," Sanji theorized with an eye roll, "or put something in front of the camera to hide what he was doing."

Zoro gave him a skeptical frown. "Dude, this sort of 'joke' is far too advanced for me. I'm too lazy for that shit."

Sanji had to admit that Zoro was right. Zoro was a lazy man.

"It's not much," Kaku then said, glancing at his partners with uncertainty, "but it's enough for me to think that further study is enough for us to gather more evidence to conclude – "

"_No_," Sanji told him firmly. "This isn't a case of alien abduction, or _aliens_, or a fucking park for aliens to drop by and…and _anal probe_ people."

Lucci's eyes narrowed. "_Are_ you being anal probed? How often?"

"_Lucci_!" Kaku begged of him as Sanji's face and neck reddened with reaction.

"This was a waste of time," Lucci then sighed with irritation. "He's obviously not going to give a consent on our involvement, and standing here breathing this putrid air is doing nothing for my hair. Look at this. Frizz."

"Oh no," Kaku murmured with worry, looking over his partner's long strands.

"Mr Blackleg," Dr Blueno then interrupted, wearing a somewhat empathic expression. "It's understandable that these things are considered outlandish and fictional and it is something anyone could react negatively to. But I want to leave you with something to consider for the future…"

He withdrew from the inside of his jacket pocket a folded piece of paper. As he unfolded it, he explained, "This was a drawing that was turned in directly to us from a security guard that works at the university. There have been some complaints that the night shift has complained about…odd circumstances that they couldn't explain. One of his colleagues was involved in an uncertain…accident. The security guard arrived on scene and was at first reassured by his colleague that things were fine. But then he saw this."

Sanji frowned at the very simple drawing of an abnormal hand with four fingers imprinted on glass. Whoever had drawn it wasn't an artist. "Glass" with an arrow pointing at the indicated area suggested that this hand was actually a handprint. The security guard had stated he was six foot even and had to stretch in order to place his hand near the impression. The width between the handprint and the guard's suggested a very tall person.

Involuntarily, he was taken back to the night of the car accident. He remembered seeing a long, pale hand leaving Law's head. The hand did reveal four fingers – all of them abnormally long and thin. For some reason, this crude drawing and that memory seemed to fit each other very well. His skin rippled with unease.

"The interesting moment about this scene," Dr Blueno then murmured thoughtfully, "was that upon review of that certain event, the security cameras flickered. Much like they flickered in Mr Roronoa's recording, here. But all we saw were two men talking to each other while there was a mess upon the floor for one to pick up."

"Ah, yes," Kaku exclaimed lighting up. "We saw it for ourselves because the security guard was convinced something strange was happening. His colleague had a bloodied nose. He was disoriented. We attempted conversation with him and he wasn't very…friendly…"

"For someone with one leg, he was pretty hostile," Lucci muttered.

"Lucci, _hush_, please! Give the man a break, he lost his leg in a car accident years ago…"

Dr Blueno winced.

Sanji _knew_ who they were talking about. His heart thundered noisily against his chest as he recalled Law sharing similar nightmares of the night of the car accident and of other events that were very similar to his. He glanced at the drawing again, wanting to know more but knowing it'd give these three more fuel to press. He didn't want them to press.

_Invasive_.

Sanji twitched a little, unsure of what he heard. He ended up subtly brushing at his ear, just in case a bug had somehow flown by and caused the murmured word.

"A car accident?" Lucci murmured with interest.

Kaku nodded. "Yes. That's what his colleagues said."

"The _same_ car accident you were involved in, Mr Blackleg?"

"There are, literally, dozens of car accidents in this world," Zoro said skeptically. Lucci looked at him with all the attitude he could have in that one look. Kaku winced.

Sanji's lips tightened briefly before he said, "I'm done talking. Get the fuck out."

Kaku looked at him with worry. "I'm sorry, Mr Blackleg, of course. I apologize for our intrusive behavior. We'd need your consent if we were to further these matters, and apparently we don't have it."

Lucci tugged out a card from his jacket pocket and held it over to Sanji. "Just in case you decide that everything you will not admit out loud grows too unbearable for you to hold in any longer. Interesting how your reaction to a simple _drawing_ rendered you paralyzed – mentally and physically."

Sanji took the card and ripped it up.

The group left the apartment, Zoro closing and locking the door behind him. But he wore a curious expression as he returned to the living room.

"Your reaction did change," he pointed out, sitting onto the couch. "Gave it all away."

"The absurdity of that stupid drawing was…unbearable. Of course anyone would react to it similarly…"

"I wasn't talking about the drawing. It was your reaction to _whom_ they talking about. You stiffened up. So, you didn't make it to the study because you ran into that guy, didn't you?"

Sanji looked at him incredulously. "How could you notice something like that and yet _still_ have the manners of an ape?"

Zoro folded his arms behind his head with a shrug. "I don't know. I have weird talents."

Sanji reluctantly took his place back onto the couch, drawing the blanket up over him. He muttered, "Yeah. I do know him."

Zoro made a victory clench of his hand as he then searched for the remote. Then he sat up with a start. "That guy took off with our remote control."

"ARGH!"

"_Clever_. They obviously want to keep talking to you. This was a subtle way of ensuring that. That shit was expensive…"

Sanji grumbled as he folded his hands into his lap, glaring down at them. Zoro looked over at him with a skeptical expression.

"So…_is_ this about aliens?"

Sanji wasn't sure how to answer that.

: :

Kaku called Zoro the next day, apologizing for taking his remote control. He assured him that they'd be there for a few more hours if he wanted to come and get it. Of course, Zoro gave the message to Sanji. Sanji told Zoro to get fucked and ignored his phone after that. He was sweeping when the receptionist walked over to him to inform him he had a customer. Once he saw it was Lucci, he rolled his eyes and gave a petulant expression.

"Just a shampoo, please," Lucci told him dryly. His choice of clothing hadn't changed much from last night, but he was without his glasses. "With the expensive stuff. Then maybe I'll consider a trim."

"I have a client coming in within a few minutes, I can't take you – "

"Yes, it's me. I don't want my stylist to feel he has to rush so I book for the appropriate length of time needed. I'll just go and sit down, now," Lucci added, walking over to Sanji's station. Sanji glared after him, then looked over at the receptionist who only shrugged helplessly. Everyone else in the salon was busy with their clients, the area noisy with music, laughter and conversation. He put the broom and dustpan away then dragged his feet back to his station.

"Any mention of the stupid topic you guys brought up last night and I'll accidentally cut a Mohawk into your skull," Sanji then threatened him. "I wouldn't care what happens after that. Test me."

"I'm more interested in your roommate." Lucci then ran his eyes over Sanji's outfit before looking troubled. Sanji was wearing a white shirt with black anchors on it, fitted into a pair of ratted jeans and Converses. The belt he wore to accentuate the outfit was bright yellow. He was wearing a black apron with a yellow trim that matched the belt. "What does he do?"

"Fuck off with that snotty look. Uh…Zoro's a cop."

Lucci looked like he almost choked on his tongue.

"Yeah, I _know_."

"And he drinks that much?"

"He's sober by the time he's in uniform, so…I don't know, maybe he is an alien. That liver, at least."

"Since we're waiting for a sink to open up," Lucci then said, crossing one knee atop of the other, voice staying low underneath the drone of other voices, "the only reason why we're persistent in this study is that you don't have a lot of time here."

An expression of disbelief crossed Sanji's face, but Lucci continued to watch him from the mirror instead of turning his head to do so.

"Each year, about fifty to sixty people disappear without much of an explanation, but they have documented history of episodes similar to yours. Most of them are children with unexplained disappearances that put suspicious blame onto their parents or guardians, but there are adults that disappear without explanation as well. Most adults have history behind them that lead them to believe that they knew their time was coming. Normally, they disappear from isolated areas, such as Nome. But this area fits the agenda as well – there's an interstate nearby, with truck stops…there's a history of bad drug usage and an outdoors playground that beckons any adventurous soul. Plenty of things to blame a disappearance upon, isn't it?"

Sanji wore a stubborn expression. He was surprised to hear the drug usage bit – as far as he knew, it wasn't a problem. But then again, he did everything he could to stay away from that topic, and living with a cop helped.

"But the only thing that remains different in your case and those that we know of is that you do not have childhood memory of this problem. Normally, those things begin to prey on children, first. Groom them into trust and fear. Adults are much harder to convince."

"I don't believe in _aliens_ – "

"But something happened that you can't explain, or otherwise you wouldn't react so angrily to something so…unbelievable." Lucci smirked at his expression. "Do tell. So I can move on with my life and find more pitiable subjects for the cause."

Sanji frowned down at him. But learned instinct had his hands moving into the man's hair, causing him to look irritated once Sanji snatched the overused, overstretched hair tie out of it. He used his fingers to comb through, nose wrinkled.

"There's absolutely nothing about your attitude that I like."

"Good. I am asexual."

Sanji deliberately pulled at the strands and caused Lucci's head to snap. Looking annoyed, Lucci let Sanji play with his hair to avoid another tug.

"I can thin out the ends and leave it at that. Keep the length."

"I'd prefer something masculine rather than any shampoo that is coconut scented or floral."

"What do you think about having baby bangs?"

"Since you brought up the topic of the car accident…"

"I didn't. I didn't say anything about that."

"What did you see that night?"

Sanji found his scissors from the drawer, along with some clips and his comb. He began separating sections and twisting the excess hair atop of Lucci's head to start. As he clipped, he said reluctantly, "Something I couldn't describe. I only see it in my nightmares, I can't recall it directly."

"And that's how your partner lost his leg?"

Seeing Sanji's stubborn look, Lucci added, "I looked you both up. You were both involved in a car accident and sentenced for some years for different crimes. Was it a coincidence you both ended up in the same area?"

"Yes."

"So you don't talk now."

"No."

"But you both suffer with the same afflictions?"

"I don't know."

"Kaku wants to install security equipment in your apartment. It'll be temporary. We can extend our stay."

"What are you going to do once you find what you're looking for? What's your success rate in saving people from fucking _aliens_?"

"Ah, see, that's the thing. We don't save them. We can't. But we can document them and build up a study to prove that this is an actual thing," Lucci said, blowing hair from his face as strands dangled over it.

"So you're just building up a missing persons case before they can actually go missing?"

"Does your family know you're here?"

Sanji didn't answer that, releasing more hair to resume cutting. Lucci looked satisfied with the answer.

"Normally, most of the missing persons in these cases are alone. No witnesses, no one to know that they were gone for the length of time that they were. It'd be months or weeks before someone finally thinks to ask around. Too late for law enforcement to get the clues they needed to find them."

"Then establish a space force."

"Unfortunately, we're just a laughing stock of the government branch. Maybe in the future our studies will be enough for someone to take us seriously."

"Then _why_ do it?"

"Because I'm allowed a healthy pension once I decide to retire."

Sanji glared at his reflection. "What sort of security equipment? Cameras in every room? A bodyguard? Do I get a meal voucher from this?"

"Just peace of mind, knowing we're watching your every nightly move. Roronoa mentioned that you sleep with a nightlight. Isn't that cute?"

"I have scissors here," Sanji reminded him, snapping the instrument together a few times. "I can cut your stupid hair and not regret a fucking thing!"

"Do you ever wonder why they targeted you?" Lucci asked him curiously, pulling strands of hair from his face to look at him. "What made you interesting for them?"

Sanji shook his head. "I don't think about them or the situation that much. All it is are lingering effects from a traumatic brain injury and the use of drugs within a short period of time. That's all. _Hallucinations_. Maybe I saw a movie that used the language Zoro claims I'd used and repeated it. There's always an easy explanation for things like this."

"True," Lucci agreed. "But that ape you're living with isn't very dexterous with his fingers to produce such intense creations. And you're terrified. So something about this either makes a bunch of sense or is nothing at all. If I should ask your employer, would you pass a piss test?"

Sanji set his scissors down to avoid the temptation of stabbing the man in the shoulders. He leaned up against his table to frown at him, but all he could see was his mouth and absurdly maintained goatee.

"I would," he answered crossly.

"Then maybe seriously consider why the constant visits. Why does it want you to remember that night?"

Sanji furrowed his brow. "It was a traumatic event for both of us. So it's a trauma thing that doesn't ever go away."

"Do you remember everything about that night?"

"_Of course_."

"Hmm."

Sanji didn't want to talk about that night to someone like Lucci. He had a feeling that giving this man anything else was a dangerous thing to do.

_Invasive, invasive, _invasive…!

He twitched again, fingers to his ear before snatching up his scissors once again and getting back to work.

"Don't worry about it," Lucci then murmured. "We tend to make _everyone_ uncomfortable."

Sanji didn't know what he meant by that but he was determined to ignore anything else this man had to say. In all honesty, he didn't know what Lucci wanted from him.

"What sort of doctor did you say you were?" he asked, releasing another section of thick, dark hair.

"How often do you get your migraines?"

Sanji worked his jaw from side to side with frustration.

At the end of his day, he stepped out from the back of the salon with Lucci's card in hand. He looked at it, wearing an expression of distaste. He had a feeling that as much research this man was doing on him, he'd better do the same. He looked out over the late afternoon scene, then looked up at the sky. The sight of thick storm clouds rolling in from the south made him apprehensive. He could feel the moisture in the air and could sense the electricity. His brain was twinging slightly, so he figured it was best to just go home and prepare his meds. Shoving the card into his vest pocket, he then headed towards his car, thinking he should at least stop for groceries.

* * *


	5. Delirious

Law watched the tendrils of his mop pull across the floor. His music played loud enough to block out the voices of university students leaving the building for the night. With the mood he was in, he wasn't prepared for any conversation. He thought about Sanji often, reviewing that night over and over, feeling like he was suffocating with the helplessness he felt about it. To think that Sanji thought of him in the same manner Law did made Law feel undeserving. But there was nothing he wanted more than to be treated like a fucking human being.

Well…on the days that he would allow himself that. Admittedly, they were often. He was his own worst enemy with that shaky want.

He plunged the mop into the bucket and then wrung out the excess water with a press of the handle. One of the other workers were preparing the wax machine, but another worker was with his tools next to it. Steadying the bucket, Law pushed it off to a nearby corridor to begin cleaning there. A professor scurried by with a sheepish glance at him. Law worked methodically down the length of it, glancing at darkened rooms to make sure he was the only one there.

He had just finished a section when he felt the sensation wisp over his conscious, telling him he wasn't alone. He lifted his head to glance around, removing one side of his headphones to listen. He did hear far off voices but they were coming from the workers around the wax machine. Thinking about what happened to him the other night, Law frowned and leaned up against the wall, holding apprehensively onto his mop. His senses were strumming with unease, and he didn't want a repeat.

_Tell them to go away_, a voice of a child floated out to him with impatience. It was so close, as if the speaker were right there next to him and yet there was absolutely no one around him. His fingers clenched around the mop handle as he felt himself swallow nervously.

_How is this getting worse_? he thought to himself in a panic. Footfalls coming his way caused a sensation of relief to hit him and he pushed away from the wall to start mopping again. He then realized that this footsteps were coming towards him and looked over his shoulder to see two men catch sight of him, venturing over with purpose.

Irritated at the sight, Law felt his face grow weighty with a frown. He thought they'd stop bothering him by now.

"Hey, there he is," Kaku said brightly, right eye twitching as Blueno kept an indifferent expression. "What's going on, brother?"

"I'm no relative of yours," Law snapped at Kaku, slamming his mop back into the bucket.

Kaku wore an awkward grimace then said slowly, "We, uh, had some developments in the issue we attempted to speak with you over – "

"The only _development_ I'd speak of with you is questioning the notion of why gingers are still in existence."

Kaku exhaled stiffly. "_Ouch_…"

Law glanced at Blueno, who was giving his partner a glance of concern. "That hair speaks for itself, you need no more wounding," he then muttered, Blueno looking stung as Law then pushed his bucket away from them, using his other hand to pull his headphones back up.

Kaku then said loudly, "We know who Sanji Blackleg is."

Law didn't give that statement any pause. He remembered Sanji had come to the university with that flyer in hand. It was no business of his to question why he'd even want the situation investigated by these people.

"We know you both saw _something_ the night of the car accident."

Kaku gave a frown as Law continued on, his expression heavy at the topic. Kaku looked at Blueno for help.

"It's only a matter of time before Blackleg disappears," Blueno then said. "A missing person without any redeeming qualities to them never get a second consideration from those that never knew who they were. Therefore, lost in time as just a name and number in the government's ever expanding collection of mysteriously missing persons."

Law paused in mid step, Kaku looking at Blueno with bright achievement. After a few moments Law looked back at them, his expression stiff. "I've heard about groups like you," he said, coming back towards them with what seemed more like a stalk than the limp they'd associated him with, "targeting ex-felons with no positive backgrounds and making them disappear - !"

"Not us," Kaku said quickly, hands up. "It's not us that are behind these cases, it's the situation we're investigating that has become the cause, and here, we're doing as much as we can to draw attention to it. We're trying to interfere and prevent any more disappearances -!"

"By blaming this bullshit on fucking _aliens_?"

"This is a peaceable conversation," Blueno interjected, using his taller frame to step forward in front of Kaku. "We've enough evidence and cases to prove that this situation exists. Blackleg himself isn't directly involved with our project, but the ominous indication of alien involvement in his day to day life suggest that his number will be up, soon. It has been suggested that you have a target on your back as well. Have you ever given thought that you'd disappear from here one day, without anyone to realize you are gone?"

Law frowned up at him. "No one will miss me."

"That's sad to hear," Kaku said tentatively, "because I'm positive Blackleg would miss you."

Law shot him a furious look and Kaku stepped behind Blueno with a loud clearing of his throat.

"The incident that happened the other night with you was added to our records," Blueno said, catching Law's attention by leaning over. "There are similarities to it that match the incidents involved with Blackleg. His roommate was kind enough to provide us with the needed documentation for us to feel like this is a case we can involve ourselves in."

"So, you're a secret government branch organized to combat alien kidnappers?" Law asked skeptically, looking from one to the other. "Must be a highly successful department, considering there is no factual evidence to back up your stupid claim. You are thrill seekers looking for a boner. I don't have one for you. If _he_ told you to leave him alone, then abide to it."

"You served time for your crimes, put the nature of the beast behind you, yes?"

Law stared up at Blueno with such dislike that Kaku felt nervous once more, fiddling with his black tie and rigid collar.

"You had to obey rules and prison law just to make it out of those doors. Follow the procedures at the rehabilitation center in order to walk a free man. Yes?"

"What are you getting at?"

"There are rules the government has, in which the 'free people' have to follow or else they're accused of breaking these rules. Some rules are invisible. There's several rules you are expected to follow, and you're declaring, just now, that you intend to disregard those rules."

"My life is no one else's property."

"Correction – _you_ are our property. You broke several rules and therefore, remain on the list for the government to track and watch over. If you hadn't taken care to break those rules, perhaps the attention wouldn't have remained on you in the first place…"

Law stared up at Blueno for several moments before his hand slithered into his jacket pocket. Kaku and Blueno gave him startled looks but they took a couple of steps back, apologies leaving their mouths hastily. When Law removed his phone he changed his playlist, then slid his phone back into his inside pocket. The two men looked sheepishly at each other.

"True government dogs don't react to a threat like whipped strays," Law told them both before turning and pushing his bucket away.

Kaku and Blueno looked exasperated once he left their sight. Kaku hit his partner with the back of his hand with impatience. "You _almost_ had him."

"I…panicked? It's not often we get anything drawn on us," Blueno said nervously. He then sighed heavily. "Neither of them want our help."

"Admittedly, what can we do?" Kaku murmured apprehensively. "All we can do is proved they existed right up to the moment of permanent abduction."

: :

That night, Law had just settled into his bed with a book when he heard the knock on the door. He stilled, thinking that perhaps it was only the wind knocking on something outside but the bell ran moments later. He resolved to ignore it, rereading the page before the fold so that he could remember the content of which he was reading. The bell rang again, and he found his vision lifting over the top of the book to look at his stump. The material of his lounge pants lay flat against the mattress. Did people not give thought that when a person in his shoe had set aside their limb for the night that it was not easy to get back up to do things as quickly as other people could?

Just in case, he checked the side of his nightstand for the gun he had there – it was illegally gained, but considering the neighborhood and his handicap, it didn't make sense for him to be unprepared for unwelcomed visitors. He continued reading, thinking that whomever it was had just moved on.

The knock came again, the doorbell ringing moments later. Law closed his eyes with exasperation, looking at the clock. It was long past the normal visiting hours, and there was no one he could think of that wanted to see him, anyway.

He did think that it was Sanji, but that hope was quickly squelched. Sanji didn't want to see him. As fiery tempered as he was, Sanji was actually prone to hurt feelings and pouting that could last for months. It would be far-fetched for Law to think that it could be him. He turned the page of his book, reading for half a page before the doorbell rang again, insistent knocking following.

_Answer that_! a genderless voice snapped at him, coming from somewhere and everywhere at once.

With a curse, he set the book aside. If it were those idiots that had approached him earlier, perhaps he could get away with shooting first in the name of self-defense…

But he shifted his legs to the side of the bed, slowly reattached his prosthetic and tucked the gun into the book he was reading. He shuffled slowly towards the front door with his book closed around the gun, hip aching and stiff from overuse and the incoming storm. The knocking persisted against the storm door, and Law cautiously glanced out the side window, the peephole covered by one of the storm door's bars. Once he saw that it was Sanji standing out there, back to the door while looking pensively out to the street, Law set his book aside and eagerly ripped open the locks. Then he hesitated, reining in his feelings because this visit could mean nothing. He inhaled slowly and deeply to get a grip on himself and opened the door.

Sanji quickly turned to face him after waving at someone. Law saw one of the town's patrol cars slowly pull away, and it put some tension in his expression as he looked at Sanji with question.

"Can you let me in, please?" Sanji asked, tugging at the locked storm door. "_Please_. It's dark."

"What's this about?" Law asked first, hesitating on reaching for the lock.

"It's about those assholes harassing the both of us. My ride is gone, so…just let me in."

"Then call him back. This isn't a good idea – "

Sanji kicked his door and the noise was obscenely loud on the quiet, dark street. "Forget about that stupid shit and just let me the fuck in!"

With exasperation, Law unlocked the storm door and Sanji swept in with a huff. After glancing around, Law shut and locked the doors.

"I know it's late, but this is a problem," Sanji then said, looking around for a place to settle. Then he winced, whipping around to look at Law. His eyes dropped to his leg as Law grabbed his book and the gun hidden within the pages. "I'm…I'm sorry…I forgot. I…"

"Don't worry about it," Law muttered gruffly.

After some moments, Sanji asked him. "I didn't even get involved with that stupid study. Zoro brought them over. After that, they were just…involved in every fucking aspect, prying for details, and I know you know about it because they drop your name in on it, too."

"They tried."

Picking at his fingernails, Sanji looked at him apprehensively. "Let's not talk about the other stuff. But…focus on this one. Okay? To…make it easier."

"I don't know what's there to talk about it, but you don't get to tell me what to do in my own fucking house."

Sanji bit his lip, but a smile tugged at his lips. "Sorry."

Law could forgive him for that because he felt like a weak man. And his feelings were so tough to ignore. He set the book and gun atop of the counter and Sanji looked at it with nervousness.

"Because of this, you asked for a police escort?"

"It's my roommate. He started night shift this week."

"Then ask him to put a stop to the harassment."

"He encourages their fucking behavior because he agrees with them! Honestly, this stupid thing is out of control," Sanji muttered. "It's not like it hasn't been happening before, but…it seems to be happening more."

Law internally agreed with him.

Sanji glanced at him apprehensively then asked, "Did something happen at work?"

"If they said something to you about it, then it did."

Sanji frowned. "Did it happen like that before?"

"Yes."

Sanji's brow furrowed with concentration as Law found it difficult to speak of these things. But it made sense to do so if there was someone as "crazy" as him experiencing the same things.

"I don't think too deeply about it," Law confessed slowly. "Because I'm stuck between thinking it's…the aftermath of the things I've done or something that I deserve."

Sanji looked at him sharply, but his mouth only tightened with frustration. "Then why are there other people aware of these things happening? I don't even have to say too much and yet those guys describe exactly what's been happening. It's started to allow me to think that it's not my imagination."

Law wasn't sure what to say about that. He didn't even give those men time to talk to him about these things. They only knew what the security guard had said and some glitch in the security system.

"What are they saying?" he mumbled.

"They haven't spoken to you about it?"

"I run them off."

The expression on Sanji's face told Law that the younger man was recalling some intimate confirmation about Law's statement.

"I bet," Sanji then murmured. He inhaled deeply to get his nerves in order. "They threatened to have security measures installed at the apartment so they could observe and confirm this shit. I didn't agree to it. But then one of them approached me today about the way I eat my cereal and suddenly I can't be there anymore."

"And your law enforcement friend knows this?"

"He…was convinced…and thinks it's for my own good, but they talk about us eventually disappearing because of those things anyway, and…" Sanji gave him an exasperated look. "I can't take that seriously. All the things that have been happening are inconvenient and frightening, but to think that they think it could go further than what it is…it's stupid to think about. I can't accept it but I can't think that I'm _not_ going crazy because of it."

Law shifted uneasily as his hip reminded him of its discomfort. Sanji immediately looked troubled.

"Look, just…let me stay here tonight," he said awkwardly. "I'll…I just don't want to go home with those guys watching me, I'll be gone when that guy's shift is over."

Reluctantly, Law mumbled, "I guess there's no trouble in that. But…this whole thing…I acknowledge that it happens, but I can't believe what they're telling you, either. It sounds like they're just looking to profit off it. Saying this to anyone else…it sounds crazy enough."

"I…I know. I don't know what to think about it. There's nothing threatening about it, or ominous…? Just…uncomfortable." Sanji fiddled with his fingers before asking tentatively, "Do _you_ think we'd…disappear?"

"Why? These things that happen, none of them are…traditional alien encounter tales. They're just strange voices with stranger actions." With some awkward humor, Law added, "I'm not being anally probed by them."

Sanji rolled his eyes with an agreeing nod, then asked him, "Do you hear people telling you not to eat that, or do that, or even tell you how uncomfortable they are?"

Law was frozen but he felt a strange sort of relief to know what it wasn't just him that heard that sort of thing. He nodded.

"It never happened in prison."

"It didn't."

"So, if there are aliens, why suddenly just contact us outside of prison? See? It's stupid. These things, it's…" Sanji trailed off, hands flapping to his sides. He then gestured at Law while he looked to the folding chair. "I'll take that chair. Do you mind if I have the lights on?"

Uncomfortably, Law acknowledged the intention. It made him feel awkward that his ex would be here with him throughout the night. Years ago, they had no problems sleeping together in their cars, at a stranger's house, and, once, in a friend's bathtub. And now, for the first time in a very long time, they'd be sleeping together under one roof but separately.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "That's all I have."

"It's fine. Slept in worse," Sanji said cheerfully before venturing away from the kitchen. Law watched him unfold the chair before turning on the lamp and the overhead light. It was uncomfortably bright. After some moments, he grabbed his book and gun and shuffled back to his room.

He could hear the other man rummaging through the books left on various surfaces as he resettled into his bed. He was too self-conscious to take off the prosthetic. He ended up laying atop of his blankets, ears attuned to the sound of Sanji down the hall. Every part of him was strumming with tension. He wanted to continue talking – about anything and everything and yet he wanted to remain silent. He wanted to be in the other man's presence again, and yet he wanted to remain out of it. He wanted to see him and yet he couldn't do so without feeling like he didn't deserve to. He exhaled lightly.

He turned off his bedside light because the one coming from the front room was bright enough to illuminate the hall and most of his room. From the corner of his eye, he did see something shift to the side but he attributed it to an eye floater. Resting his hands on his stomach, Law drifted off to sleep.

: :

The sound of Sanji's name leaving his lips caused him to jerk away. He could hear the faint remnants of the dream echoing in his thoughts as his breath quickened. He had been dreaming of the car accident because the memory of thinking Sanji was dead remained like a bad freeze in his bones. His heart was thumping noisily against his chest as the sound began to dim. Wiping his face, Law sought to put himself back together.

_I have two of them_, he heard the voice say merrily. _I have two. One, two, one two, two, one, one, one, one, two_…

_The fuck_, Law thought bitterly in reaction, unsure of what to think of that voice. He reached down to massage his left leg before sitting up in bed. Turning on the lamp, he pulled his abandoned book to his stomach. He set the gun back beside his nightstand and found the spot he'd left off. It occurred to him that it was silent. The thought that Sanji had left with his cop roommate hit Law, and he strained his ears to listen for any sign of the other man.

Carefully, he set the book aside and shifted off the bed. It hurt to do so. The pain shooting up and down from his hip made him wince. Massaging that area tenderly, Law ended up using a heavier step to accommodate the discomfort as he left the room. Using the wall as support, he made his way to the living room to check on the other man. The folding chair was there, but the books Sanji had been flipping through were left abandoned around it. A glance at the door to check the locks told Law that they hadn't been moved.

Bewildered, Law looked over at the bathroom but it was dark. A prompt investigation showed him that Sanji wasn't there, either. Feeling a slight panic build, recalling that Sanji was talking about eventually disappearing had Law searching the other rooms in his house. But the man was gone.

He started to feel panicked. He returned to his room, uncertain of what to do. At that moment, though, he saw something that didn't belong to his room. He found Sanji sleeping on the other side of his bed, curled up on the floor amongst the towers of books. Relief flooded through Law like a mighty wave, and he exhaled slowly. Now that he was awake, he couldn't exactly relax with the other man there. He ruffled his hair and shuffled his way back into the living area. He turned off the lights there and limped to the fridge. His leg was aching below the knee, heavy with phantom pain.

He found a bottle of cold coffee and poured himself a cup while he wondered what to do about breakfast. The silence of the house was thick and unmoving. It gave him ripples of unease as it caused him to wonder if it was always like this. He leaned against the counter, rubbing his hip. He felt a thousand years old.

He remembered how busy his own household was when times were simpler. Mornings were the best, with everyone eating breakfast his mother made, Lamie complaining about her school work and their father struggling to ingest coffee straight from the pot. Things were chaotic in a sense that they were exasperating back then but now, listening to this silence and living on his own, he'd give anything to return back to that time to avoid making the decisions he did. He opened his cupboards, looking for something other than the usual rice he threw in the pot and something that wasn't canned. He gave up because maybe offering that sort of homey hospitality wasn't the best choice he could make. He finished his coffee and listened for any sign of Sanji waking up. He wasn't sure of the time but he was sure his roommate's night shift would end, soon.

He limped back towards his bedroom, feeling incredibly awkward. But once he ended up at the bed, he realized with a start that Sanji wasn't there. He looked around himself, then ventured closer to see if the man had somehow made himself smaller. The area where Sanji had been laying was empty. The towers of books that Law had there gave no indication that the man had been there at all.

He wondered fuzzily if this was one of those dreams. Was he truly awake? The silence of the house – was it real or was it one of those dream modes where nothing moved? He heard his own breath as it grew troubled – deliberately noisy just so he could hear something. This still silence – it was the same as the time he'd frozen at the grocery store.

Something moved from the corner of his eye, and his mind told him it was Sanji sitting up from where Law had seen him lying earlier. But this wasn't Sanji. It wasn't even human. The gaping mouth caught his eyes first before looking into a face that had the skin of tree bark.

_Do you see me now_? it asked, the voice booming over Law's conscience like something from a megaphone.

He inhaled sharply to call out with reaction and instead opened his eyes with a jolt of his body, realizing he was truly awake. His heart thundered noisily at his chest, mind ringing with that thing's voice. His entire body was strumming with fear, unsure of how to react. He sat up stiffly, eyes locked on the side of his bed. Unsure of whether to look, Law clutched his blankets with both hands and struggled to will away the fear he felt. He was terrified at the thought of seeing that thing again, but he somehow found the courage to do so. All he saw were the towers of books that had been there, without any room for anything to comfortably thread itself between them. Law then looked to the hall. The dream had felt so real that it felt like he'd already canvassed the house for Sanji. But he heard the other man's snores coming from the living room, the lights so bright that it felt like day time.

He looked at the clock to see that he'd only been asleep for an hour.

Gripped by the remnants of that dream, Law sat at the head of his bed with a sense of confusion and fright. What did it mean? Surely someone was trying to tell him something, but he thought that with all the trouble he'd been experiencing so far, perhaps this was only a gathered product of that. He did fear Sanji suddenly disappearing after reappearing in his life; he did fear the thing he saw the night of the car accident because it was so unusual. These Men in Black – they were there, too, for no other reason but to be annoying.

He shifted off the side of the bed, mind a muddled mess. His leg ached with a fierce, uncomfortable throbbing that made him feel like his entire leg was whole, again. Determined to get to his destination, he used the wall as support as he ventured into the living room, seeing that Sanji was sitting in the folded chair with a book over his chest. His head hung over the back of it at such an awkward angle that, for a moment, Law thought it was broken.

He reached out and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him as panic caused fire through his veins. Sanji snorted in mid-snore and lifted his head with confusion, causing Law immense relief. Once Sanji saw him, he sat up slowly, wincing.

"What's happening?" he asked thickly, looking at Law with mild alarm.

"Just….had a bad dream," Law admitted reluctantly, glancing around the rest of the house. What caught his eye was the single cup on the counter, from which he'd drank coffee from earlier. The very sight caused him utter confusion. Sanji noticed his expression and quickly sat up to look in the same direction. He didn't understand why Law's face had paled.

"Did you see something?" Sanji asked him warily, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Unsure of himself, Law looked at him, then at the books Sanji had glanced through and abandoned. "Do you sleepwalk?"

"I…don't even know. My roommate can sleep through active tornados and wake up several miles away without noticing."

"…Really?"

"Yeah. He moved over here because he was 'embarrassed'…"

"…Is _he_ an alien?"

"Probably." Sanji then looked at him with worry, reaching up to touch Law's face with both hands. "You look so upset. Is everything okay?"

For a moment, Law welcomed the touch. It brought him warm memories of Sanji's expressed concern years ago. Made him feel _human_. He froze up without being able to answer, and Sanji cautiously hugged him. Moments later his grip tightened, rubbing at the other man's back with soothing action.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Everything is okay…"

After a few moments, Law pulled away from him. "This stuff never happened before, so why is it happening now?"

"Law, _what happened_?"

"If this stuff was real, why didn't it happen to us when we were locked up? This shit only started to happen once I got here," Law then continued, growing agitated. "Maybe there's something in the water, maybe someone's fucking with me, maybe - !"

"And maybe it's real," Sanji insisted. "Maybe it's real and they're only bothered because those guys are somehow involved in it."

"It happened long before they arrived."

"Maybe…you're not getting enough sleep…? Maybe you're only stressed, maybe…?"

"Are _you_ getting enough sleep? Are _you_ stressed?"

Sanji couldn't think of any reason for both so he looked at the other man powerlessly. Law then wore a helpless expression, unsure of any answers. "What can we do?"

"If…I can't even tell what is waking and what is a dream…then _what can I do_? What can you do? There's _nothing_ we can do."

Inhaling deeply, Sanji then glanced at the kitchen. He then rustled around the cupboards and the fridge, pouring a cup of milk. He checked the expiration date on the bottle then poured the contents down the sink after a sheepish glance at the other man. He dumped the contents of the cup as well, then returned, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Um, well…let's go talk about this. Tell me everything. You always used to talk my ears numb," Sanji then added with a light smile. "Maybe it'll make you feel better once you get it off your chest."

Law hesitated. It felt too intimate but he still felt rattled by the dream. And he didn't want to be alone. The feeling it gave him when Sanji was gone left him feeling sick to the stomach. What if it was a premonition?

Seeing his indecision, Sanji reached out and took one of Law's hands within his. He kissed his cold knuckles and rubbed his cold fingers, blowing on them to warm his hand up. In his moment of weakness, Law gave in.


	6. Decision

**6: Decision **

* * *

Law blamed the postdrome effects of his nightmare when he agreed to Sanji's suggestion. It always muddled his thinking, caused him erratic decision making he'd regret later. Which was why, hours later, the pair of them were sitting uncomfortably in front of three seemingly hungry men that seemed to be physically restraining themselves from prying hands by clutching various electronics. They were sitting in one of the university's empty classrooms, both of them with large coffees sitting in front of them and wearing the same clothes as the day before.

Once Kaku collected their signed waivers, giving them limited permission to inquire of their situations, he adjusted the running video camera nearby, making sure the focus was on the entire group – he'd blur out their features later, promising anonymity.

"First off," he said brightly, adjusting his black tie and unbuttoning his suit jacket to sit comfortably between Blueno and Lucci, "thank you for agreeing to this. Both of you had a rough night, eh?"

Sanji glanced at Law from the corner of his eye and decided to do all the talking. Law was wearing his hat brim low and sunglasses in place, dry swallowing ibuprofen to combat the postdrome he was dealing with.

"Both of us are tired of the madness," he said slowly.

Lucci gestured at both of them with a single wave of his finger. "You guys reconcile? Or is this nothing more than a team effort?"

"Fuck off with your shitty questions," Sanji snapped at him while Law looked at Lucci with a heavy frown. "Ask something related to the situation."

"What brought you here, Blackleg?" Kaku asked hurriedly, pen poised over his notepad. "You were definitely not agreeable to this study in the first place. It seemed like you were fine accepting the things that are happening."

Sanji hesitated to tell Law's story, but offered one of his instead. He had to find some courage to do so, first, folding his hands atop of the table. "Sometimes…I hear a little voice in the background of things…I thought at first it was just my conscience, or something, but it's a little more aware than that. Um, last example being – the other day in the salon, someone's cellphone was ringing. A stupid ringtone. That thing, that voice or whatever, snapped at me to shut it up."

"You're not schizo?" Lucci asked.

"NO. It's a voice, it…tells me things here and there." Sanji glanced at Lucci with distaste. "It insists that you all are very invasive. It doesn't like you asking questions."

"Could be your own paranoia talking."

"I wish it was, it'd be easier to accept."

"Most people that we speak to, this is a common occurrence with abductees," Kaku cut in, elbowing Lucci sharply. "It's a…genderless voice. Sometimes that of a child. Very opinionated. It makes the victim feel like they're somehow being monitored from afar despite the voice being very close to them. The abductees feel that this monitoring is in place because the…_visitors_…are interested in the bodies that they're studying. If they think something is wrong for the human, they'll speak up with an opinion. If they don't like someone, which, in our cases happens a lot once we're involved, they'll command that you help stop their discomfort."

"We're not being studied," Sanji said with uncertainty. "Like all those stories, where they're taken to spaceships and all that…that's never happened. I mean, definitely…I'd definitely remember something like that. But it was a car crash that…seemed to direct that thing into our lives…"

"Did you -?"

"That night, we saw nothing unusual," Sanji then added hastily. "No strange lights in the sky, no voices, no – I never had this problem, before. I never woke up to anything new on my body or…or weird things like that. It was just…we saw the thing and suddenly…our lives turned differently. In many ways…"

"What was that thing doing?"

_Troublesome_, that voice seemed to scoff, causing Sanji a bit of a pause. _Cease this prying immediately_.

Alerted to Sanji's pause, Kaku looked at him. Sanji struggled to collect himself, glancing at the camera skeptically.

"Um…it was…just in the road," he mumbled. "We…weren't even going fast – we'd just pulled off the shoulder – "

"Not you. _He_. He was driving, correct?" Lucci interrupted, gesturing at Law, whose jaw tightened.

"We weren't going fast," Sanji insisted, gripping his coffee cup. "That part was obvious. That thing was just in the road, like it was intending on crossing. The guardrail was…within the headlights' reach but nowhere near our vehicle in the first place. How we wound up at point b after point a without any defining memory to it is something -"

_Stop talking_.

Sanji's lips tightened as he pulled his cup to him, fiddling with the protective wrap. His sudden silence caused the three men's foreheads to furrow pensively as they waited for him to continue. Law glanced at him, shifting in his seat.

"Is it speaking to you in a language you both understand? Or something different?" Blueno then asked.

"I understand every word."

"Did it say anything to you that night?"

A review of the memories he did have of that night caused Sanji to shake his head. The things that he only dreamed about were often fleeting images and noises that didn't make much sense. It felt frustrating that he was aware of this.

"Why should we have to remember that night, anyway?" Law grumbled, attention moving to him with interest. "From what I recall, I turned towards it because I could not believe what I was seeing. But in no way was I any danger towards it. Perhaps I'd only interrupted it while it was in the middle of going somewhere or leaving somewhere and it was angry."

"_We_," Sanji mumbled softly.

"_I_ was in control of the vehicle, Sanji."

Lucci watched Law with interest. "So _you_ take full responsibility of this infestation? That's what this is. Infestation. They insert themselves invasively to a subject's life and rule it until they are through with it. It doesn't sound like they are actively studying each of you. Both of you lack that fun aspect of their intrusion."

_We are not an infestation_, that voice hissed in reaction, causing Sanji to twitch ever so slightly and Law to jolt. Blueno noticed their reactions, his dark eyes casting around the room with suspicion. But they were seated in a very empty classroom with a lively corridor, where the voices of students and professors alike filtered gently through the doorway.

"What are they saying to you now?" he asked curiously, entwining his fingers atop of the table.

Both men seemed reluctant to answer, glancing at each other.

"It seems they….are agitated by this conversation," Sanji said slowly, feeling incredulous with his own admittance. It was like he was admitting he was crazy, giving the room an agitated sweep.

"'They'?" Lucci repeated.

"I don't know if it's the same voice. But…it…mentioned 'we'."

"Well, of course, they happen to work in teams. Have you actually seen these creatures to describe them?"

"They look like trees," Law mumbled when Sanji shrugged. "Because when it walked out into the road…it looked like a tree."

Blueno flipped through a nearby binder, showing them a couple of pages. Sanji and Law looked uncomfortable. "Did they look like this?"

"Not exactly," Sanji mumbled. "But…all I noticed was its mouth."

"Just its mouth and skin stood out for me," Law answered.

"Can you draw it? It helps to identify what sort of creature we're working on," Kaku then said excitedly, pushing towards them a pen and some blank paper. Neither of the men made a move to do so.

Law looked at Kaku suspiciously. "You guys have many of these things on record?"

Blueno passed him the folder, inviting him to look through it for himself. Law didn't make any move to take that invitation, frowning down at the last page Blueno had showed them. The sight of the traditional Gray aliens peered up at them, causing him intense discomfort. Law was positive he hadn't seen this type of creature, before. Sanji had his brow furrowed, wondering if he could picture the thing as he'd seen it but all he could recall was his treasured stuffed bear. It startled him to think of that bear all of a sudden. He wasn't sure why it made him uncomfortable to think about in the first place when he'd loved that ratty thing.

Lucci gave an impatient exhale as neither men looked pressed to show them an image. "Admittedly, we hear a lot of stories and see many images. It'd be nice to have a new image on record."

"What can you do about this, anyway?" Law asked him sharply. "Contact them and tell them to stop?"

"Well, now…as we've said previously, we can't do anything," Lucci answered. "All we can do is document the troubles and present them as evidence. Most victims we've spoken to are often too far gone for us to do anything for. Counseling, therapy, intensive psychotherapy seems to do nothing but agitate the situation."

"Then why the fuck are we doing this?"

"Proof. Proof that these things exist. You two are the only ones this is actively happening to. But in the event that you both do go missing, we can notify the families that this was a possible cause in that action."

Sanji rubbed his forehead with agitation while Law stared at Lucci venomously, Kaku shifting nervously in his chair.

"Yeah, they'd like to hear that," Law then mumbled with an eye roll.

"We can assure them that you both were clean and sober when it happened. That you disappeared under good circumstances. Maybe it'll make them feel better that _this_ happened rather than hearing you'd both died until suspicious circumstances."

Law and Sanji stared at Lucci with similar expressions while Kaku shook his head with exasperations.

"Enough of the baiting," he said with a sigh. "We're going off track, here. What's important is that a connection has been established and both of you hear a foreign voice that you both understand clear as day, telling you what to do. Apparently, it just happened. They are aware of our existence. They are aware that we're curious people. They don't like it."

"So, because of this, they'll continue to act in a displeased manner until they take it out on us," Law snapped.

"It's already been happening, according to your earlier testimonies," Lucci pointed out. "Our presence has nothing to do with it. You are giving them power by reacting appropriately to their demands. What happens if you start to fight back? An unwilling victim is difficult to manipulate properly. I would know."

Law and Sanji stared at him skeptically. "You have many victims?" Law asked curiously. "In all your years of abduction, it becomes troublesome if one fights back?"

Lucci realized what he was saying and gave him a bored look.

"But sometimes we don't know if it's an actual event or a dream," Sanji said skeptically. He glanced at Law apprehensively. "Law was sure he was dreaming but it turned out to be an actual event. Muddled by a nightmare."

"Tell us about it, Trafalgar," Kaku encouraged Law, who rubbed at his temples with pain.

Law glanced at Sanji, who looked at him with worry. He didn't like being put on the spot with this, and he definitely did not like the man that looked upon them both like they were jokes. The fact that they could not do anything to stop this was also a problem. But that waking nightmare still troubled him just thinking about it.

"I was certain I was awake. But…Sanji…was never in the same spot when I looked," he said slowly. "When I awoke for real, there was a cup on the counter that I had used while I was dreaming. Which made me think I wasn't dreaming in the first place."

Kaku wrote furiously before looking at Sanji. "Did you have any dream that aligned with this?"

"I don't remember dreaming at all," Sanji confessed. "I fell asleep reading a book and then woke up with him shaking me awake. I don't know if I sleep walk, I don't…I don't recall much when I wake up."

"Maybe they'd taken you while you were sleeping and Trafalgar realized this."

"I don't…like I said earlier, I don't recall anything that could indicate that I was taken. Neither can he. I mean, you'd remember being taken into some spaceship and having things done to you, right?"

"If you have spotty memories of an car accident – "

"I had a TBI in that car crash, which explains memory gaps."

"And a non-observant roommate," Lucci muttered bitterly.

"So, if this happened…this means you two were under one roof together, yes?" Blueno spoke up curiously.

"I went over to his house to talk shit about the three of you," Sanji said seriously.

"Most of it is unrepeatable," Law muttered.

"Centered around a witch mantle, I hope," Lucci said, eyes narrowed. "Candles and ouiji board out?"

"_Lucci_," Kaku complained tiredly.

"Voodoo doll didn't work, I see," Law muttered. "Your mouth keeps moving."

Sanji elbowed him. "Don't encourage his shit."

"This isn't helping anybody," Law then said, shifting uneasily in his chair. "This whole thing is stupid. All it's doing is showing how stupid we look."

"Admittedly," Kaku said with consideration, "we might not be able to do a lot, but we can offer suggestions. Let's talk this through. Both of you admit that every nightmare you have – you've mentioned sleep paralysis. But you're both actively moving about, correct? The cup on the counter? This happens frequently to both of you, so I want you to try something. Acknowledge the moment. You both know when something's happening, right?"

Sanji nodded while Law looked skeptic.

"When you feel that moment coming on," Kaku pressed with some excitement, "I want you both to tell yourselves: 'I am awake. This is sleep paralysis. My mind is awake but my body asleep.' Tell yourselves that over and over. For some, it helps relax them and puts away their fear. When that doesn't work, communicate with them. This is the part where you're both naked and open to their presence and suggestion, so…try and interact with them."

"How can you remember that when you're asleep?" Sanji asked with exasperation.

"Try it. Like Lucci said earlier, a combative victim is not an easy victim to take. There are millions of people living down here, they might lose interest in you both once they realize that you're not easy pickin's."

Sanji looked at Law with consideration while Law looked thoughtful.

"You are aware of it," Kaku assured Sanji with a firm nod. "You know when it happens. Maybe it's a buzzing at the back of the mind, maybe the entire world goes still and silent and you're questioning yourself _What the fuck_. You know it. At that point, gather your courage and open your mouths. You're both fighters, I can tell. Look how far you've come. You can do this."

Sanji looked at Law uneasily. Law looked like he was considering this tactic, hands folded in his lap.

"Nothing that you're describing sounds like an escalation," Lucci then said. "They only sound very troublesome. Many victims are terrified of what's being done to them, but these only sound invasive."

_You are_, that voice hissed. _Stop telling them what to do._

Reluctantly, Sanji mumbled, "It wants you to stop telling us what to do."

The trio looked interested while Law shifted once more, hearing nothing.

"Making them uncomfortable sounds like it could work in your favor," Lucci then said smoothly. "Once you follow Kaku's suggestion, document it. Immediately, as soon as you wake up. Keep a journal close by, and write down everything you can remember. Even if it's just one word. Anything will help you, us, if you are able to retain something. Then contact us."

Blueno opened up a laptop from nearby, tapping away briskly while Kaku looked at Law and Sanji with compassion.

"I know it's difficult, guys," he said, "but you're very brave for sharing these things with us. I'm sorry we couldn't do anymore – "

Blueno cleared his throat noisily, capturing his partners' attention. He showed them the screen, Kaku looking disturbed as Blueno left his chair to check on the camera. He was assured that it was working, but the blue screen with a running clock made him shake his head.

Kaku closed the laptop with a bitter look. "_Well_. Apparently, our…electronics malfunctioned. Who knows how long this interview had been running with a blank screen?"

Lucci frowned heavily.

"We'll give your suggestion a try," Sanji then said, reaching over to pat Law's arm. "But it sounds like we're done here. Thank you for your time."

: :

A couple of nights later, Law exhaled slowly. His house was quiet, the sound of rain drizzling over the city giving a comforting background ambiance. He found himself actually anticipating the next time strange things happened, certain to take Kaku's advice seriously. While he felt that the pair of them were being ridiculed by those men in black, he felt like something was actually being accomplished. That small voice that spoke up upon occasion had actually grumbled about Law taking in their company.

Law knew he wasn't insane by any means, and he knew that what he was experiencing wasn't his imagination. Sanji heard these things, too.

They'd separated that day and Law had regretted it. Spending that small amount of time with Sanji had left Law upset because it just wasn't enough. He'd missed him so much, craved his presence and his touch and going without it on the basis of they weren't those two people anymore just felt like another loss.

Sanji had always been affectionate towards him; always with a touch or kiss, no matter how high they were. He wasn't shy about that, and he wasn't shy about it now, and Law felt spoiled by the affection he had received.

Rubbing his hands with a terribly lonesome feeling hanging over his head, Law looked morosely at his uneven legs. He left the bedside lamp on as he exhaled heavily once more and settled against his pillows. He listened to the rain drop over his rooftop and drizzle down his windows. A dog barked a few times then stopped. It reminded Law of that night of the car accident. Reviewing the audio of the memory, he had to cringe at the remembrance of his own human condition; focused only on the next hit, on how they'd lose themselves to the Emerald Triangle, how life at that time only depended on his usage. Nothing else mattered. He couldn't imagine being that human being again.

The sound of the cow made his eyebrows furrow, and he attuned himself to that sound. Before he knew it, they were parked on the shoulder, staring up at the stars while he spoke of their lives as pirates.

"We should stop," Sanji had said quietly.

Law heard himself negotiating with him. Ramblings of a mad man he couldn't imagine himself being now that he was sober. It filled him with regret and shame all over again. He felt so awful for all those things he'd done. Standing nearby with a gun while Sanji gave a nervous traveler a blow job and feeling like he was the toughest guy in the world with that gun. He was such a disgusting human being for ever thinking that the things they did were okay.

But in the midst of that thinking, he realized he wasn't asleep.

"I am awake. This is sleep paralysis. My mind is awake but my body asleep," he repeated out loud to himself, even as he settled back into the driver's seat and Sanji reached out to touch the roadside brush. "I am awake. This is sleep paralysis. My mind is awake but my body asleep. I am awake. This is sleep paralysis. My mind is awake but my body asleep."

_Nonsense_, a voice chided from behind him. Law twisted his head to look back behind them, noticing that Sanji's bear was seated in the middle, buckled in at Sanji's whim. The voice came from it.

Determinedly, Law repeated, "I am awake. My mind is awake but my body asleep."

Sanji looked at him, with confusion, his face all angles and shadows caused by his drug of choice. His face was as spotted and scruffy as Law's. "Who are you talking to?"

Law looked at him, the engine of the car rumbling. His fingers felt every bit of the surface his steering wheel was made up of. "You never said that back then."

Sanji's chapped lips pressed tightly together. "Back when, Law? When we were pirates?"

"We were never pirates. And this conversation never happened. _I am awake_. This is a mind fuck caused by you things."

Sanji chuckled, looking down at his hands as he folded them in his lap. "Oh, you. Sometimes you always rambled about the weirdest things."

"Ramble. Present tense. Not past."

Sanji frowned deeply. Something about his expression shifted ever so slightly to make Law think that it wasn't Sanji at all. He inhaled deeply, focused on the headlights out the windshield.

_I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake_, he told himself over and over, struggling to see his bedroom again. Once the shapes drifted away to reveal his closed closet, his lit bedroom, Law felt himself tense as he acknowledged that this had actually happened. This was it. He caught the nightmare before it could start. He exhaled steadily, listening for the rain but finding it was still and silent. Something in the kitchen clinked noisily, causing him to jolt violently.

_What are you doing_? that voice asked from his bedside. From the corner of his eye, Law could see a shape. He couldn't distinguish what it was, but it was there. Moving ever so slightly. Panic lit his veins as terror bore down onto him. His skin rippled with goosebumps as his breath shallowed.

_Stop that_.

_Look at me_.

Law felt his fists clench. His eyes drifted and stopped forcefully to rest on his uneven legs. That shape continued to move at his bedside. The light at his other side was bright enough to leave shadows, but this wasn't a shadow.

"Leave me alone," he ordered between gritted teeth. "_Leave me alone_."

_You only remember what you want to_, that voice told him. _We remember all of it._

"I should've hit you with my car."

_You were in the way_.

"You were the one in the middle of the road."

Law's ear tingled as the presence grew nearer to him. He couldn't hear it breathe, there was nothing to indicate that it was moving but his skin seemed to know. Before he knew it, he jerked his head around to look at it but there was nothing there. The silence was maddening. He could hear only his own breath as he glanced around his room, looking for the thing. Something in the kitchen clinked once more, and he focused on that sound. It sounded like someone was shuffling through the dishes he'd just washed before retiring to his room.

Carefully, he shifted up from his bed. Fitted his prosthetic on and slowly made his way to the front of his house. When he reached the kitchen, he flicked on the lights. All the cupboards were open, dishes balanced impossibly to form a single tower from floor to near ceiling. Aghast at the sight, Law stared at it. Dishes were settled atop of utensils, with cups balanced on the edges. Staggered in one line. He didn't have the presence of mind to document it – he shuffled forward and kicked it down.

_Bad! Bad!_ someone admonished him crossly.

Abruptly, the sounds of the rain hitting his roof came back to him. The lights flickered briefly, the dog barking again in the distance. Someone screamed suddenly from outside, and Law attuned himself to that sound. With his skin rippling once more, he realized he was hearing his own voice screaming Sanji's name. He clapped his hands over his ears in an effort to shut that sound out, then crammed his hands against his mouth, as if feeling for the sound coming from his own throat. His skin was hot and sweaty, and his throat felt sore.

_This isn't a dream_, he thought fiercely. _I'm not screaming. I'm awake. I'm wide awake_.

Laughter rang out, the sound of a mad man laughing, and he clapped his hands over his mouth once more. He couldn't tell if it were him or something else making that sound.

The lights flickered off, the intense silence and darkness suggesting a power cut. The dog barked madly at this point.

He looked up to make his way back to his room, intending on finding his gun. But there was something standing there in the hall, a tall, shadowy figure that bore no resemblance to a human being. Utter terror had Law rooted to the spot, mind going blank.

_You are not to talk to them again_, it said, bulbous head moving with a swift shake. One arm lifted to point at him. _Those men are very bad men and we will not find their company fitting ever again_.

_Don't tell me what to do_, Law thought feverishly. _Don't tell me what to do_.

_Bad men do bad things_, it said, shifting from foot to foot. The movement caused Law to glance down, noticing that something was wrong with the image. It was missing half a leg, like him. It startled him into holding his breath, unsure of what he was looking at. The shadow shifted out of his sight, stepping back into the hallway. There was a rumbling sound, like a plane passing by overhead. It caused his windows to rattle ever so slightly, for the dishes to clink with noticeable movement.

The dog screeched in pain and was silent.

The lights flickered back on, and Law saw with immense relief that the thing was gone. The rain continued to fall outside, and the house hummed with electricity. He glanced over at the mess on the floor, then to his open cabinets. His heart thumping noisily, leaving him winded, he braced himself against the counter. His nose warmed and tingled, causing him to react hastily. His brain felt wrung out, twisted within invisible hands. He searched for a napkin to staunch the nosebleed, feeling absolutely weak from the encounter.

: :

"It only makes them angrier," he told Sanji as the other man watched him with worry. Both of them were facing each other at the sandwich shop across the salon, and Law was so jumpy he felt like he was coming off something terrible. "Confronting them on their advice wasn't…something I'd want to do again, but…it changed the routine."

"But did they say what they wanted?" Sanji asked slowly. "Why are they doing this?"

"It said we're not remembering all of it."

Sanji shook his head slowly. "It's only after when things are spotty."

Law frowned out the window, his sunglasses doing little to cut down on the glare from the sunny skies outside. When he'd left this late morning to meet Sanji, there were a small crowd of people gathered around something to the side of one of the houses down the street. All of them looked distressed, Animal Control parked nearby. He refused to think any more on it.

"What a shitty way to be reminded of what kind of people we were," he muttered.

Sanji gave a similar frown, fingers carefully cupping his coffee. He didn't know what to say.


	7. Desperation

**7: Desperation**

* * *

Settled in bed at nearly two am, Sanji folded his hands over his chest and stared at his ceiling. Without Zoro's presence in the apartment, it felt strangely frightening. He had most of the lights on, but considering the past week's events, he felt like anticipation was strumming through his veins. He started a series of breathing exercises, trying to will himself into relaxation. But it was too quiet, so he hopped up from bed and turned on the television in the front room, volume up high enough for him to hear every moment clearly from his bedroom. Then he resettled into bed, shaking his head.

Closing his eyes, Sanji struggled to calm his mind. One thing that stood out was that he absolutely missed being in the presence of Law. He couldn't help but feel achingly lonely at that moment, missing his scent, the feel of his skin, the weight of his presence. It ached so much that for a moment his eyes burned. He opened up his eyes once more and stared at the ceiling. It hurt to think that they had to be apart like this when Law gave him every indication that he missed Sanji as well. The older man was so receptive to Sanji's impulsive gestures that it made Sanji angry to think that Law was putting space between them under the guise of being different people.

"Stupid shit head," he muttered bitterly. Then he glowered at the ceiling. "You're only hurting yourself, fucker."

_That's not nice._

Sanji jolted at the voice, sitting up in bed with a rush. It almost felt like it had come from the front room, and he did hear children speaking from the television set. It sounded like they were having some type of adventure, exploring an abandoned house. He remembered leaving it on a children's network, so he assured himself that's where the voice originated from. Resettling back onto his bed, Sanji exhaled slow and evenly.

He then remembered that this apartment was bugged or being filmed by those Men in Black. He sat up once more, gazing around his room suspiciously. The fact that Zoro allowed their intrusive behavior made him shake his head. In a way, though, it was slightly comforting because it allowed him to think that he wasn't _that_ alone.

He resettled, drawing his blankets up and over him. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and he reached out to trace the rim of his glass of water with thoughtful consideration. He started to feel sleepy then, drawing a smaller throw pillow to his chest. He missed his bear. It was silly to think that he, a grown man, had slept with the Valentine's Day gift like he was some kid in need of a comfort item. He wondered what happened to it. Law had given it to him – stealing it from a national chain – and had told Sanji he loved him more than he loved himself. Sanji remembered thinking that there would be nobody to love him more than this man.

They were childishly delusional back then, even in the midst of all their wrong doings. He closed his eyes, listening to the kids' adventure movie carry on from the front room. As he started to drift off, something about their conversation became glaringly obvious.

_He's not asleep yet_.

_Leave him alone_.

_We can't go in there_.

_Make him come out here_.

Sanji's eyes jolted open as terror shot through him.

_Oh, he's awake now_.

_Where is the other one_?

Sanji sat up hastily, looking towards his doorway as his heart thumped noisily against his chest. There was a light buzzing in the back of his thoughts, familiar and yet faint. His skin was strumming with anticipation, knowing that he suddenly wasn't alone in his own apartment. How could this happen? How did things escalate so suddenly? He kept thinking that someone was nearby, hidden in the hall. The feel of a presence lingering outside his doorway made Sanji stiff, his breath coming shakily. He could _feel_ it. He couldn't hear it, couldn't see it, but he could feel it. He stared at the open doorway, almost mindless with anticipation.

Swallowing tightly, he stood from his bed then hastily shut his door and jumped back into bed. He tossed his blankets over his head, breathing heavily. His actions caused him to feel exasperation at himself.

_What am I, a kid_? he thought helplessly. _What's _that_ going to do to stop them from coming in_?

He stiffened, mind going blank as the door unlatched and opened slowly. Every part of him was vibrating with fear as he heard it hit the springy door jam. He could hear himself scoffing at the Men in Black's conversation about being abducted; now he could feel that something – some_one_ – could grab him and carry him off to places unknown because he'd mocked the concept. The air underneath his blanket was hot and heavy, almost suffocating.

_They haven't done that_, he insisted to himself. _Nothing like that happened! I don't even know what they look like_!

He swallowed tightly, hearing the television from the other room slowly lose sound. He could actually hear the drop in volume, holding his breath as terror shot through him once more. His eyes widened, staring up at the white sheets with shock.

Fight back. Be a combative victim.

Those words came back to him at such a clear volume that it almost felt like Lucci himself was saying this. Puzzled, Sanji's eyebrows drew together. But it made sense. He was so terrified that anything could happen, but it didn't make sense of his character to just allow something to happen to him. After several moments of courage building, he tossed his blankets aside and sat up, breathing heavily. All he saw was his brightly lit room, door wide open to the hall. His eyes cast around the area, looking over his bed and towards the closet. His window was tightly closed against the night – blinds down and curtains drawn. He swallowed hard and looked back to the doorway, something from below his vision catching his attention.

He shifted over his bed to look to the floor, puzzled at the sight of the bear he had just been thinking about. It was ratty, dingy, and it still clasped a heart between its furry paws. _I Love You_, it read in cursive writing. Sanji's heart stilled.

The car accident came back in dark flashes of audio and imagery that were too muddled for him to sort through. Something about that bear terrified him. Its black, beady eyes gazed lifelessly back at him, but Sanji found it terrifying. Something had happened where he remembered feeling horrified, but that image was avoiding his conscious choice to see _why_the horror. He reached for his phone, intending on calling Zoro to come back to the apartment under the guise of a simple errand.

_I need milk_, he thought frantically, thumb shaking as he scrolled for his number. _I need bread. I need coffee. I need a drink. I need a story. I need _\- !

The bear tipped over without any apparent movement, catching Sanji's attention. He looked over at it, then around his room once more. The silence was maddening. He made to get up on shaky legs when the electricity cut to the entire apartment. He caught his breath and fumbled with his phone. The sound of a plane moving overhead caught his attention. The glass rattled slightly at his window, and caused objects to vibrate on his nightstand. The pull string from his lamp bounced with a quiet jostle against the neck.

It was such an unusual sound, as planes didn't normally pass by over this town in that manner, so close. Even military maneuvers were prohibited in the region. Maybe it was heavy equipment on the street, maybe a big truck, maybe - !

He dropped the phone, and he heard it bounce off the mattress and fall to the floor with a heavy thump. Sanji threw himself back underneath the blankets with a hard suction of breath, panic lighting his blood.

_Wait_, he thought. _Where are those voices_…?

The moment he thought that, something grabbed his leg. He ended up letting out a terrified scream, kicking wildly as fingers tightened around his ankle and yanked. Flailing wildly, Sanji twisted out from underneath his blankets and shot out, ready to be a combative victim. Zoro wound up with a foot to the face, and he slammed back against the dresser while Sanji realized the entire apartment was brightly lit by the morning sun. All his lights were on, the television was running, and Zoro was cursing noisily as he pressed his hands to his face, radio buzzing with dispatcher activity at his shoulder.

Utterly confused, Sanji sat back on his heels. He could hear clear daytime activity moving outside the apartment – voices of children on their way to the bus stop, the heavy mechanics of a dump truck, someone's car alarm going off in the parking lot. Birds singing in the trees and someone shouting in the apartment next to them. Shaking hands to his face, Sanji struggled to get a grip on himself before looking over his bed at Zoro.

Zoro picked himself up, hands flailing as his nose bled. "Goddamn it! _Knock it off_!"

"Jesus Christ, when did you get back?" Sanji gasped.

"I swear to god, you kick me again, I will Taser you to death!"

"What the hell are you doing grabbing at me, you fucking _monster_?"

"I was just checking on you, dipshit! I came into your room, saw the mess, saw your blankets - ! Then you fucking _kicked_ me! I don't get paid for this shit, I don't want to do this, anymore!" Zoro bellowed at him, examining his palm as he realized he was bleeding. His arms flailed once more. "You made me bleed my own blood!"

Sanji looked around his room again. His closet was wide open, clothes strewn about with his shoes scattered over the carpet. His dresser drawers were out and dumped onto the floor, as if someone had been looking for something. The blinds themselves were bent in odd places, warped out of line with the curtain rod hanging from an angle from their supports. The lamp was overturned, clock laying on the floor with blinking digital numbers. He absolutely could not remember a single moment where this mess had occurred during his night of terror. It felt like a huge chunk of time had been taken from him from that last moment of consciousness to now.

His hand shook violently as it shifted to his mouth. Zoro was yelling at him again, but Sanji shifted, looking down at his ankle where he had been grabbed. He was sure Zoro wasn't that strong. His mind raced with panic, and he looked at Zoro with such terror that the cop paused in mid-shout.

"I lost time," Sanji whispered heavily. "I lost…a lot of time. _I can't remember shit_."

Zoro frowned at him. But he picked up a shirt to wipe his face. With some uncertainty, he asked, "Well…don't abducted people have, like, injuries?"

Sanji looked at his ankle again, wiping at ashy skin and noticing his nails. Deeply embedded underneath the nails were dark spots. His fingertips were sore and tender, and his eyes shifted to the hallway. At the sight of slightly darkened scratches on the wall, his heart seemed to pause in mid-beat. Rising from the bed, he headed out the doorway while Zoro looked at his bed with a puzzled expression.

"You're bleeding," he said as Sanji stepped up to the hallway walls and realized that the scratches left behind were spread out in four uneven lines that matched the width of his own fingers. Terror shot through him before he registered Zoro's voice. He automatically touched his nose, coming away with dried flakes of blood. But the movement caused his shirt to catch in such a funny way that he reached back on his shoulder to feel why. His fingers caught the dried patch there, so he twisted his head to look behind him as he pulled the material forward. Once he realized there was blood there, he jerked his shirt off and Zoro cringed.

"_Oh, Jesus_," the cop muttered, eyes widening with surprise. He looked at Sanji with a sense of horror. "Oh god. You've been _probed_."

Sanji caught sight of himself in his dresser mirror. His back was a myriad picture of broken blood vessels and what looked like a bubbled burn that could have been mistaken for a rash. For several still moments, his mind went absolutely blank. When he was finally able to move, he looked at Zoro.

"But not probed," he said stiffly.

Zoro looked at him impatiently. "What makes you think that? You can't remember shit!"

"I'm _gay_, dumbass. I'd fucking know if I were _probed_."

"…Oh." Zoro then wore a puzzled frown. "How long has that been happening?"

"Since high school."

"I _meant_, stupid, this whole…_injury_ thing! _That_! I meant – _that_! So…so wait…you're not one of those…like, twisted gender stereotypical man-woman things? Because…I had some questions but…like I always thought you were in some sort of transition but definitely dead to any type of advances…"

"_How are you a cop_?"

"I don't know! Too much…internet, I don't know!"

Sanji sighed heavily, feeling distant all of a sudden. He looked at his shirt, twisting the material around until he found the patch of blood. To him, the shape of it looked like a circle within a circle. The bubbled patch of skin revealed no shape to it. He felt numb.

Zoro's mouth was open, but he couldn't find anything to say, either. Sanji looked at him, lost for words. Both of them stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

: :

Sanji called into work, claiming a migraine. But he wrapped himself up in a blanket and sat in the living room, feeling absolutely numb. He felt frozen from the inside out, struggling to find memory that wasn't there. He had no idea what his roommate was doing, but Zoro seemed to keep himself busy despite his graveyard shift the night before. Sanji wanted to go to Law, but he was suddenly terrified of even going outside. He had no way to contact the other man, and he didn't even know what to say. He wanted to know if Law had experienced the same thing, and wanted the comfort of the other man's presence. But he was rooted in place and couldn't find it within himself to smoke, cook or eat. His skin stung with the sensation of a violation he couldn't explain and his mind felt like snow across the television screen.

Sometime later, Zoro sat down in the easy chair, both fists holding onto cold bottles from the fridge. Sanji noticed he looked winded, watching him with uncertainty. Zoro ended up chugging both bottles dry before belching noisily and dropping them from both hands.

He looked over at Sanji. "Did you know there were twelve pets residing here in this building?"

Sanji gave him a clueless look. He hadn't even thought of other residents' having pets.

Zoro watched him before stressing, "_Were_twelve pets."

Puzzled, Sanji blinked at him.

Zoro scratched at his professional undercut. Sanji buzzed him himself whenever Zoro asked for it. The muscled man settled back in his chair with an expression of exhausted numbness.

"All those residents called into the police station to report that their pets," he said heavily, "were pulled inside out within their locked homes."

Sanji stared at him sightlessly. The screams of the cow from that faraway memory came back to him. Those sounds tore through his conscience like a knife slicing through butter. He swallowed tightly.

"Sounds like a serial killer at work," he said numbly.

"All in _one night_."

Sanji didn't know what to say. He didn't recall hearing any animal calling out during his night of terror. His mouth felt dry as his cigarette addiction cried for relief.

Zoro stared at the television set. It wasn't even on.

Both of them sat in silence, numb for their own reasons.

At the knock on their door, both of them jolted. Zoro was still wearing his uniform, but he immediately stood up to grab at his service weapon with an apprehensive expression. Sanji was stiff, unable to move as he watched his roommate go and answer the door. It occurred to him that Law lived alone. He was handicapped and _alone_ and Sanji couldn't bear the thought of that. If he could feel this terrified living with his capable roommate, then how did Law feel having this done to him and having no one to talk to? Sanji felt his mind and heart ache at the thought.

Hearing multiple voices brought Sanji back to the present. Hearing Kaku's excited voice talk about footage caused rage to build up in him. He pulled himself out from the blankets, shoving Zoro aside.

"This didn't happen until you guys came along," he snarled, grabbing the man by the lapels of his suit jacket and shoving him roughly out the door. Kaku sputtered with surprise. "None of this shit happened until you guys showed up! I'm tired of your shit! I don't want to be involved! I don't want you guys around me anymore! This is all your fault! This is all because of you!"

Sanji then slammed the door shut and locked it against Kaku's protests. Zoro watched Sanji warily as Sanji collected himself. They ignored the persistent knocking at the door, Kaku trying to reason with both of them.

Sanji looked to Zoro. "I need to go somewhere. Same house as the other night."

Zoro looked at him suspiciously. "Your dealer?"

"I'm _sober_. And that house belongs to someone going through the exact same thing as me."

"So….?"

"Either he comes here or I stay there. He's alone, disabled. No one would notice if he suddenly disappeared." Sanji's voice trembled with emotion. "_I_ would miss him if he disappeared."

Zoro frowned at him. But he reached behind to scratch at his head. "I don't understand anything that's happening here."

"I don't either. But it…never was this bad. Those things…they were upset we were talking to _them_. If we just cut them out of our lives, maybe they'll start leaving us alone. But…I don't want him by himself."

"Is this that guy - ?"

"Yes. My ex."

Zoro looked at him incredulously, then looked away, awkward. He shook his head as he sheathed his gun, handling his belt with clumsy hands. "I should've known, knowing you work at a _salon_…"

Sanji gave him an exasperated look as Zoro staggered down the hall towards his room. "Is that all that sticks out at you, after all this shit? You shitty piece of lawn decoration!"

"I had myself convinced you were a eunuch! How many more surprises am I going to be hit with, today? Is Robin going to break it off with me, now? _Fuck_…"

Sanji frowned after him. _That_ situation was more troubling to him than the incident that happened last night.

: :

Zoro barely had a chance to park when Sanji left his car, causing the cop to curse after him. But he hurried up to Law's house and banged on the storm door while ringing the doorbell at the same time. He waited apprehensively for Law to answer, looking around himself. He ended up glancing at the sky, wary of the incoming storm clouds and approaching evening. When the door finally opened, Sanji looked at Law with earnest action.

"Come stay with us, or allow me to live here," Sanji told him, Law blinking bag heavy eyes at him before looking skeptically beyond his shoulder. He hadn't opened the storm door, so Sanji toed at it with his shoe. "Because I can't stand the thought of you being alone in this."

"It happen to you, too?" Law asked him gruffly.

"Either choice, make it now," Sanji stated. Law frowned at him.

"Make it easier for them?" he asked.

"For both of us." Sanji gripped the bars of the storm door, lowering his voice. "I don't think either of us should be alone, anymore. If we're together…if these things can happen…I…I'd want both of us to disappear together."

Law's frown tightened as he heard the desperation in Sanji's voice.

"Law. _Please_."

"I don't think anything we do is of any concern to them," Law stated evenly. "It doesn't matter where we go or what we do to protect ourselves. It's up to them. They have the power."

Sanji's fingers tightened on the bars, knuckles white. "At least, together, we have a chance."

Leaning against the doorframe, Law asked him, "Did you fight back?"

"I did. But…" Sanji shook his head, dropping his head slightly. "I don't remember shit."

"Then what makes you think both of us together can fight them off? Nothing we do can make them leave us alone."

Closing his eyes, Sanji braced himself against the door, clinging to it for dear life. He could hear the resolution in Law's voice, the stubborn resolve to go through this alone. It broke his heart in that he couldn't do a thing to convince him otherwise. He longed for the other man to just understand, but he couldn't do that. So he grew frustrated, and he knew he was irrational, but the helpless anger he felt just spilled out of him.

"What do you want me to do, then?" he asked resolutely. "That's the only way you'll allow me to convince you to do this together, right? Is if I'm doing something for you?"

Law reacted with a start, shaking his head.

"Do you want me to blow a few guys? Steal? Pay your damn rent? _Huh_? What do you want me to do for you, Law?" Sanji then slammed the bars with a palm, pulling away. "Was I better for you coked out of my skull? Hey, this didn't start happening until after we sobered up, so maybe getting back into it will make them back off, right?"

"Sanji, don't talk stupid," Law begged of him heavily.

Struggling to put himself back into order, Sanji wiped his face. He turned away from him, stalking back to Zoro's car while the cop looked off with interest into another direction. Law watched him go, feeling heavy with indecision. But once the car pulled away, he shut his door softly, locking it with a turn of his fingers. In the silence of his house, he knew that they couldn't do a thing to stop this 'infestation'.

But maybe there was a way to make it easier to bear.

: :

Zoro watched as Sanji chugged from a bottle before washing down a few pills. Zoro was sure the man was having a mental breakdown right in front of him, but technically, Sanji wasn't breaking any rules. He wore an expression of disgust as Sanji lowered the bottle and looked like he was going to throw up.

"Don't you dare disrespect my taste," Zoro warned him.

"My head hurts so much…"

"So killing your liver will help? You're not like me."

_Stop drinking that_!

Sanji froze at the sound of that voice, then deliberately drank some more. Zoro tentatively reached out to stop him, but he was quite sure both of them needed a drink after today's incidents.

_It is disgusting_! the voice cried. _We don't like it_!

"Maybe if I damage my body, they won't have a need for it anymore," Sanji theorized, tossing him the bottle. Zoro looked at it bitterly. "When I snorting, none of this shit was happening."

Zoro lectured him with a stern finger in the air. "Don't you _dare_ go that route. Don't make this worse for me."

"Drinking's legal."

"I'm not saying I'm encouraging this shit, but…I don't think it's the right shit to do," Zoro commented with a heavy frown.

Sanji was feeling the effects immediately. It wasn't helping his upset. He wiped his mouth, wavering in place for a few moments. He gave Zoro a look. "Keep all the lights on when you leave. Also…patrol the area. Maybe you'll see something outside. Something…like lights…?"

"UFOs?" Zoro asked skeptically.

"I don't know. I heard a plane pass by when shit was happening, but…I don't know. Like in the movies, they have to come by craft, right?"

Zoro wore an expression that clearly told Sanji he didn't know what to do.

"_Shoot_ at it, or something," Sanji told him impatiently before shuffling back towards his room. Zoro glanced down at his service pistol with doubt before dropping the bottle into the trash can with a bitter expression. He did turn on all the kitchen lights and turned on the television, as well as the lamps on the nightstands.

"Well, I'm going," he said lamely towards the hallway. Then he unlocked the door, grumbling about shooting UFOs with just a pistol. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a man standing there with an awkward expression on his face, travel bag at his feet. Zoro hadn't seen the guy before, but he was damned suspicious with a face like that and looking like some sort of janitorial serial killer. He narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, but this place is already marked by extraterrestrial beings. I'd advise an apartment down from us for serial killers. She's always watching that crap."

The tall man rolled his eyes, which were heavily shadowed. "The observant cop. Finally, we meet face to face."

"…Do I know you?"

"Probably not for long. I'm expected to disappear, soon." Law let himself in while Zoro wore a confused expression. Glancing around, Law set his bag aside. A fond smile tugged at his lips as he recognized the minimal spread of white furniture and crappy silver decorations. Sanji had always talked about owning a place that looked like something out of a Scarface movie set. "Sanji invited me here."

Zoro looked at him with a start. The man was tall, thin, and wearing all black clothing. His hat was pulled down so low that Zoro wondered if he were hiding a receding hairline. While he looked like he groomed regularly, the man appeared disheveled and suspicious. The limp didn't help appearances any. Those double earrings at his lobes made him suspect of the man's relationship to Sanji. This man was absolutely suspicious in every way.

"No, really, were you sent by the Men in Black?" Zoro asked skeptically. "They sent an actual alien with a crappy human disguise to combat the ones doing all the terrorizing? Tough costume. Could've picked a better looking human..."

Law looked at him with impatience. "Do I look like an alien to you?"

"I still insist on serial killer, but after all the weird things that have been happening, _now_I'm going to peg you for an animal serial killer."

"How nice of you to notice my boyish looks."

"_That wasn't a compliment_!"

Sanji hurried out of his room at hearing Law's voice, lighting up with relief. He reached out and hugged the other man tightly, Zoro lighting up with understanding and then sudden dismay. He shook his head, grumbling about surprises as he finally left the apartment. With his absence, Law finally managed to relax. He clumsily patted at the other man's back.

"I apologize for causing your dramatics to say awful things to me," he told Sanji, who chuckled sheepishly, face pressed up against his chest. Grimly, Law looked around the place. Despite the fact that every light source was strumming with power, the television playing something from a children's network, it felt like they weren't the only ones there. It gave him a sense of agitation that made every part of him tense.

Despite the uneasy sensation he felt, he kissed the top of Sanji's head and embraced him just as tightly, feeling reluctant to let go.


	8. Dial Tone

**8: Dial Tone**

* * *

Law reached back to touch the rash-like scabbing on the back of his shoulder. Sanji slept heavily with his head resting atop of his thigh, clutching his blanket tightly. Waking up that morning had been a nightmare in itself because Law was bothered by flashbacks that didn't fit the memory of the car accident. He wasn't certain what to think but his throat felt raw for some reason, and his mind seemed to twitch entirely on its own accord at nearly every little sound he heard. He glanced at the timer set on his phone – they were trading off sleep between each other, and Sanji had only been asleep for a couple of hours.

Law felt exhausted. He felt like something ominous was lingering in the air, and it had to be because of this weird rash. Sanji had the exact same one in the exact same spot. Both of them had experienced odd encounters with 'children's voices' before losing a large slot of time. What felt awful was that in the process, Law had lost his prosthetic. He was using the one he'd brought home with him from prison, and it was a very uncomfortable fit that dug into his flesh and bone and forced him to walk awkwardly. He'd made an appointment with his doctor to apply for a new one, but he was quite sure explaining that he'd lost his newest one to aliens wasn't going to fly.

He drew his fingers over Sanji's head, combing through his hair. Watching television, tuned into a channel featuring a popular law enforcement show in Vegas, Law tried to stop thinking about these things. It wasn't helping his sleeplessness any, and he didn't want to think about how things were escalating.

His neighborhood was buzzing over the gruesome death of a pitbull someone had kept outside. The animal had been found "pulled inside out". Usually grim faced young men with tattoos and colors were distributing flyers for information regarding the dog's death, visibly upset. They wanted everyone to look out for a suspicious behavior, to watch out for each other and lock their doors. Despite the area's outside appearance, the vigilant distribution of news and neighborhood watch for unusual circumstances that could possibly pinpoint the killer felt reassuring. Law's neighbors knew he was disabled and assured them they would be watching his house while he was away. Law felt comforted by their gesture – he'd always felt invisible to others because he kept to himself, but the fact that people knew he was there made him feel grateful. The animal's death wasn't reported in the news, but the news stations reported on the deaths of animals in this single building on the other side of town.

Just as he felt like he was dozing off, Sanji sat up stiffly. Law dropped his hand away from him, wide awake as the man looked at the television set. Something alerted Law to danger, and he felt all his limbs lock up. His voice just…disappeared. All he could do was stare at Sanji's profile as he watched the television set, shoulders straight and back stiff. For several long minutes, Sanji said nothing.

Then he turned his head to look at Law, and Law absolutely knew that Sanji wasn't awake. Despite the blue eyes that locked onto his face, this man was only a puppet.

"Send them away," he said evenly to Law.

At that instant, someone knocked on the door. Despite feeling paralyzed, Law jerked in reaction. He glanced back at Sanji, who watched him without blinking. Law could see his eyes reddening and drying in those few moments.

Rising from the couch, Law found himself obeying without fighting. He stumbled a few times, panic firing through him. He didn't feel in control of himself. He didn't feel like he knew his own legs in the way that he did. Every step felt foreign. The prosthetic that he wore was awkward and painful, but it felt like he had no idea how to walk with it.

He unlocked and opened the door without checking outside, first.

Lucci looked a little surprised at seeing him. His dark eyes fluttered with it before he calmed himself. "Oh. Hello. Wasn't expecting to see you here, Mr Trafalgar."

"Not interested," Law replied, with a voice that felt wooden and stiff.

"I…" Lucci's head twitched as he tilted it with a considering look. "I didn't offer. I merely wanted to replace batteries on the equipment we left here. Blueno informed me that they were dying."

"I didn't agree to this."

"This isn't your apartment. Where is Mr Blackleg? May I speak with him?" Lucci then asked, looking over his shoulder for the other man. Law turned his head to look to Sanji, but the couch was abandoned. The blanket was folded neatly over one cushion. He looked back at Lucci, wanting to scream. But his throat felt heavy, and every word that left him seemed forced.

"No. He's gone. Bye, now."

Law closed the door on Lucci's next question, and he locked the door resolutely. When he turned to return to the couch, Sanji was sitting there, wrapped in his blanket. Law felt like his entire mind _blinked_ as he walked stiffly back to his spot. Several minutes passed in silence, both of them sitting as still as robots as they simultaneously stared at the moving television set. Law's eyes were burning, the need to blink powerfully painful.

He became aware of a constant buzzing at the back of his thoughts. Every part of him was heavy and stiff, much like how his left leg felt. He felt that something was utterly wrong, something needed to be done but there was nothing inside of him that could move. His fingers twitched with his own effort.

When he grew aware that he understood something was wrong, he thought strongly, _I am awake. My mind is awake, and my body is asleep. I am awake. My mind is awake, and my body is asleep._

_No_, the voice said, booming over his words with such volume that his body jerked in reaction to cover away from the noise. _You are wide awake. You belong to us. Our will is the right way_.

Let me go, Law thought fiercely, eyes burning as his vision began to waver. _Let us go_!

The buzzing seemed to intensify. For a few moments, Law could see the law enforcement officers racing after a suspect. The camera jostled in place, and the content of their voices was as normal as things could be. But eventually the scenery began to change. A wave of hopelessness swept through Law as he realized they were back at that night, and with their positions, it was almost as similar as sitting in that car accident. He felt his inner voice give a cry of frustration. Though he couldn't see Sanji, he could see moisture glittering down his cheek.

They were pulling onto the road again, the echo of their voices hanging over their heads. The headlights fell onto two figures – one was the creature. The other was a child in onesie pajamas, being led by her hand alongside with it. The creature opened its mouth with a scream that wasn't human before Sanji braced himself against the dash and the car hit them both. The twin thuds caused both men shock.

"_What is that_?" Law had shouted with panic, foot pressing onto the pedal with panicked reaction.

Both bodies disappeared from their eyes, but that thing emerged first. Climbing back to its feet with an eternal scream leaving its mouth. Looking from them to the front of the car then back. Law made to put the car into reverse, and as the tires squealed, the thing bent at the hip to retrieve a small, broken body. It howled towards the sky with such volume and grief that both of them clamped their hands against their ears. From the tree line emerged others like it, smaller creatures that looked on with the same sort of horror the thing was displaying.

"Is that a kid?" Sanji had asked numbly, eyes wide. "_Is that a kid_?"

Once Law realized what happened, words failed him. The gravity of the situation hit him with the force of a blow. He was absolutely positive his foot wasn't on the pedal to create enough speed to kill anyone, but determination of the creature's grief told him that the freak accident had done so.

The body, similar to a broken ragdoll, was passed to the smaller creatures. Then the taller thing lunged at the car, grasping it by the front bumper. And that's when they took to the air, plunged directly into the guardrail by a thing that welded such monstrous strength. The explosion of sound was deafening.

When it had settled, both of them had experienced their separate incidents, but both of them were wide awake, looking at each other with combined horror and helplessness. Law was trying to pull himself out from the steering wheel, Sanji reaching over the guardrail to pull at him. Both of them shouting for help and out of terror for each other.

In the midst of the chaos, that thing's voice reverberated through their manic thoughts, tearing into their conscience like a physical blow to their nerves.

_You've taken her from me, one of my children_, it said ominously. Metal screeched noisily as the car tilted, and both of them were looking into its face once again as it peered at them from the driver's side window. Its face was splattered with red, but it was only visible red veins that blazed with a ghastly glow against its bark-like skin. Beady eyes shifted from one to the other as that gaping mouth opened and closed without any relation to its spoken words – like a fish underwater. _My revisions will continue with you_.

It pounded fiercely at the hood until Law realized it wasn't part of the memory. It was faint, muffled, almost as if it were coming from underwater. His ears felt painfully pressured, sinuses on fire. His eyes continued to burn, like someone held a hot flame against them while pressure squeezed his brain so tightly that he inwardly begged for the hands to release him. A sharp crack ripped through the air, jolting him out of his trance. But his body felt heavy and paralyzed, fingertips twitching only in reaction. His missing leg throbbed with phantom pain – he jolted his foot to ease the static out of that leg and remembered he did not have a left foot. He heard a keening sound next to him, coherent enough to realize Sanji was making it. From the corner of his eye, Law could see that Sanji was as unmoving as he was.

Some sort of mad laughter rang out, and Law's throat felt raw all over again. Either from screaming or some undefined pressure – it _hurt_.

That creature was standing there in front of them both. Bending at the hip, missing half of its left leg – just like Law's. Beyond it were several smaller creatures, shadows against the light. Law didn't know where they were, but both of them were not in the living room. They were still in the clothing that they'd worn that night, still running off their last high. Both of them were sitting ramrod straight atop of two different tables alongside each other, and the smaller creatures were carefully lifting the small body in a onesie into an oval shaped device that churned with the sound of Law's car's engine.

With utter horror, Law watched as the group tossed the body into it, and from the bottom of the device shot out churned pieces in bright mixtures of blood and gore that were then filtered through a clear tube that shot the mess away from the room. He felt like throwing up, raw from the inside out at the sight of a small human being treated like disposable trash. Sanji was screaming, but this was only indicated by the protruding veins in his throat and straining tendons, eyes focused in the same direction. Both of them were maniacally horrified by what was happening that neither of them could take in full details of their surroundings.

That bulbous head of the taller creature lowered, shifting sporadically as its beady eyes peered into both men's faces. Its veins glowed red against its bark-like skin while its mouth mouthed without relation to its spoken words. It felt like a repeat, déjà vu. They were seeing it for the first time, but it wasn't the first time. Both of them were very familiar with the frightening visage, but their reactions were as fresh as it was the very first time. Both men were terrified mindless, unable to move or exert any action against the thing. Both of them were quite aware that they were still within the memory, still dressed as they were that night. Neither of them were coherent enough to recognize that this was the creature's doing, keeping them weak and submissive under its terse control and terror.

One of the smaller things with a similar face but without the glowing veins appeared suddenly at Sanji's side. Forcing the man's chin up while looking down into Sanji's face with twitchy eyes. The bigger creature's right hand lifted, poking and prodding at Sanji's face until delving into his mouth, which was forced open by the smaller creature. A long, spindly finger pressed down and disappeared, and Law was helpless to do anything to stop it. Vomit gushed around the thing's hand and it reacted with a hum as the smaller creature pried Sanji's mouth apart with a violent wrenching.

_It is disgusting, this…fluid_, Law could hear the thing say. _It makes it difficult_.

_It is not something that we like_, another voice said, childishly young.

_Altering substances are forbidden, for it slowly destroys the body from the inside out and renders the study useless_, the bigger voice stated. _But I can still use your parts for another project_.

Once Sanji was released, attention was turned to Law. Helpless terror fired through Law as long, hot fingers touched his face, pried open his eyes so that darker ones could peer into them.

_You are broken already._ _You and I are the same, which makes it easier to assume control. Both of you combined can be used to make more children_, the thing then said, straightening away. _When I am through_, _you'll be used to spread amongst the others I am documenting for research. Your bodies will die but be rest assured you'll live on in others. Hopefully I can breed the mistakes out of your assemblies within several generations_…

_I am troubled by the amount of attention you give to others about us_, it then said, suddenly standing a distance away with its minions surrounding it. _Cease immediately. Or I shall render you both shells and harvest your organs sooner than I'd planned. Ultimately, I might just destroy them to save the trouble of passing on your genetic information to future generations. I was told that the pair of you were difficult studies, but I am determined to succeed where others cannot_. _Do not make me regret my decisions_.

The timer went off. Law jolted violently to keep himself from falling through some imagined distance, then felt guilty for falling asleep. His mind felt like it had been wrung by a vise, and he gripped his forehead with a sweaty palm. Sanji snorted himself awake then sat up clumsily, looking around the apartment with visible confusion. The men on the screen were chasing after a suspect, camera jostled with every step.

Law looked at Sanji, feeling like a huge chunk of memory was missing. He felt guilty for falling asleep, and Sanji looked to him. He smiled lightly. "We're okay. You're tired."

"I don't remember falling asleep, that's my problem," Law muttered bitterly, wondering why his throat felt raw. He pressed a palm to his forehead, then touched his nose cautiously. It tingled faintly, unlike with the power he was used to. He looked to Sanji for any indication of a visit and saw nothing. Sanji only looked uncomfortable, hand against his stomach with discomfort. Law reached out and touched him tenderly. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I slept…but my eyes feel like I haven't," Sanji confessed, wiping them. He glanced at the clock on the wall near the television set. "It's your turn."

Law stared at him for several moments, then said low, "Did you dream?"

"No."

"…I feel like we should have."

"If we did, then I don't remember for a reason."

Law stared heavily at the television screen, feeling desperately like he'd missed something. But his mind was fuzzy and it hurt with a painful headache. He reached back to scratch lightly at the rash on his shoulder while Sanji patted his knee and rose up from the couch to get them both something to drink.

: :

Zoro shook his head with disbelief upon seeing their puzzled reactions. Both of them were reacting with visible confusion to his statement. They looked like they hadn't slept a wink and Zoro was incredulous.

He had just told him that the entire neighborhood lost electricity near three am last night, and there was a source of bright lights behind the building that no one could locate the source of. He'd even taken a picture of it, but both of them looked skeptic to the content. He'd come into the apartment to check on them, and both of them were gone. Sanji's blanket had been folded up neatly on the couch and neither of them could be found in the rooms. Both of them insisted that they were sleeping in the apartment with no troubles to share.

The only thing that told Zoro otherwise was that both of them had broken blood vessels against the whites of their eyes, much like Sanji had that other night.

Sanji gestured at the plate meant for Zoro, but Zoro didn't have any interest in eating. Something felt so utterly _wrong_ and he couldn't not pinpoint why. He straightened away from the table, glancing around the apartment. The trio from the study group had set up surveillance cameras throughout the place but Zoro didn't know where they were. Lucci had insisted they do it secretly so that neither men could be tempted to locate the cameras and interrupt the feed.

Zoro exhaled heavily, bracing back first against the counter while the pair ate calmly. Truthfully, both were like old men – comfortable in each other's company without any indication that they were exes of some sort.

"At least talk to those one guys," he mumbled.

Sanji and Law glanced at each other. Something inside of them strummed at the exact same time with a heavy sensation of dread and caution, but neither could identify the agitation.

"I'm tired of those guys," Sanji mumbled, rubbing at an eye.

"They could help."

"Zoro, with _what_? Making it worse? Seriously, this stuff didn't even stand out until they showed up!"

Zoro shrugged helplessly. Sanji shook his head with denial as Law watched them interact.

"No, I'm not talking to them, anymore."

Law glanced at him. "They could visit at any time."

"We don't have to answer. We're under no obligation to do so," Sanji stated stubbornly, setting down his fork. He scratched at his throat. "I feel like I'm getting sick."

"That's your own damn fault," Zoro snapped at him. "If you wasted my after dinner treat, I'm going to wring your neck."

"I obviously passed out, numb nuts!"

"My nuts have nothing to do with this conversation. Keep them out of it. Well, I'm going to go do some follow up," Zoro then sighed, sensing that this argument was going to lead nowhere. "Robin needs her engine checked."

Law and Sanji's face twisted with disgust and he stomped his foot impatiently, face reddening. "Her goddamn _Miata_, assholes!"

"Is that what they're calling it, now?" Law murmured.

With one dirty look sent their way, Zoro stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Sanji frowned after him bitterly.

After some moments, Law lowered his fork. He looked to Sanji. "They'll continue to bother us. Those men. Thinking about it makes me sick."

"They weren't very helpful," Sanji admitted. "That was my fault to get them involved, but I was desperate at the time."

Law found himself staring at the other man for several moments. He then reached out to clasp his hand within his, drawing Sanji's concerned attention. Quietly, Law suggested, "Then let's disappear. Just…go away. Move away from here, lose our names, lose our numbers…pretend this was only a bad memory. You don't have any attachments here, right?"

Sanji watched him silently, heart hammering in his chest. For Law to suggest it in the first place made him feel like that rogue he'd felt a long time ago, going along with Law's suggestions of adventure with a sense of childish optimism. He didn't have attachments in this small town, they'd done their time, and the idea felt good. Zoro would eventually forget him and the pair of them could start over fresh in a new place. The thought that they could embark on such an adventure made him feel positive. He hadn't felt that in what felt like such a long time.

"How would we pay our way?" he asked cautiously.

"I'll sell my house. Sell my car. We can use yours, this time. We know how to survive, Sanji. We've done it before. But," Law added slowly, "it'll be much different from the last. "

He gave a hopeful smile that felt awkward and forced, but only because it had been awhile since he felt that emotion. "We can be better people and not the ones we were forced to be. Good people crafted from a fresh start together."

Sanji considered the idea. It felt like a weight off his chest to consider a new future with this man. Having another chance with him felt like a new beginning. He was surprised that that tiny voice that offered its unwelcome opinion had yet to speak up. He nodded faintly, feeling a smile tug at his lips. Law smiled back at him, grip tightening fiercely.

: :

The trio looked downcast and unhappy after Zoro made the final report. He picked at the scarred table in front of him as the activity of the diner continued on around them, uninterrupted. It had been three days, and he had to accept that Sanji had run off with that weirdo. His roommate had packed his essentials, left a note with next month's rent and simply disappeared. The house Law had been living in had a For Sale sign up in the yard. His coworkers claimed they had no idea he had even quit his job.

Lucci frowned heavily at Zoro. "You sure it was on their own accord?" he asked.

"They packed their stuff. His, at least. Guess they were just tired of this shit, or something spooked them that bad," Zoro added.

Kaku clasped his hands atop of the table. "Maybe they thought moving away from this area would help them," he said slowly. "At least…_they_ decided to run rather than…the usual story. Some victims just off themselves to escape the terror and pain."

"Or disappear completely," Blueno contributed.

"Maybe not under their own suggestion," Lucci murmured. "Kaku here did mention that Blackleg had confronted him violently. Out of his mind."

"He went through that shit, so I'm sure his freak out was warranted," Zoro said skeptically. "Maybe that other guy thought this would help him."

"There wasn't any footage from that night to even show us what was going through their heads," Kaku said bitterly. "The batteries were dead."

Lucci glanced away with an unpleasant frown. "That didn't seem like the only things dead in that apartment."

Zoro shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know what to tell you guys. I mean, both of them were clean. Probation had cleared them both about a year ago, so they're free to make decisions on their own without notifying anybody. So, unless either of them gets a parking ticket or does something stupid, they're absolutely free to make their own choices."

Kaku sighed noisily, leaning back in his seat. "I thought for sure we could interfere this time."

"Maybe they wanted to reconnect with their families," Blueno then suggested. "Has anyone considered getting into contact with them to find out?"

"That sort of invasiveness isn't necessary," Zoro said. "But I'm pretty convinced neither of them wanted to. Sanji always talked about how his choices fucked up his family relationships. I felt like he never wanted to reach out to them."

Lucci sipped at his coffee and made a bitter face as he carefully set the cup down. He pulled bills held together by a clip from his inside jacket pocket and set some down before rising. The other two followed, Zoro realizing that this conversation was done. Fixing his jacket, Lucci looked down at him.

"You have our numbers," he said. "Contact us if you hear from either of them."

Zoro saluted him loosely, but he was sure he wouldn't be doing that. The trio left the restaurant and he wouldn't hear from them again. Sighing, he looked out the window into the parking lot, wondering why Sanji had left without saying much of anything. He hoped for the best for that guy.

Months later, when Zoro had finished loading the last of their moving boxes into the garage, their house phone rang. Robin was busy telling the movers where to set their furniture, and Zoro located the cordless phone in the kitchen. It was an unknown number, and he frowned before answering it stiffly.

"Hi," he heard Sanji say, but his voice sounded tinny, with sounds of static obscuring most of his voice. Zoro furrowed his brow with concern. He wondered how Sanji had found their new number he'd just activated the day previous.

"Hey. Long time no hear," he commented lightly.

"Just…I just…" Sanji sighed heavily, the murmurs of multiple voices in the background. Zoro couldn't hear what was being said, but something about the phone call made his skin prickle with goosebumps. It sounded like children.

"Are you at a daycare?" Zoro asked cautiously.

Sanji chuckled. "No. But…you haven't forgotten about us, have you?"

"Well, duh, no."

"Okay. We were good people, huh? You can agree to that. We're still together, we're going to go together..." His voice faded, as if turned away from the phone. Zoro realized he was speaking towards another direction, and his voice was weak, taking tremendous amount of effort to project. "I love you. Okay? I love you! They can't take that away from us!"

Zoro wore a puzzled expression, fingers tightening on the device. "Sanji. Where are you?"

When Sanji's voice returned to the mouthpiece, his voice trembled, clearly broken and desperate. "Just…answer that. We were good people. We straightened ourselves out, caused nobody trouble. We were good, we were good people who straightened out and lived - under the rules...! Our families...they can forgive us now...! If they ask...we were good...! Ask them to...forgive us, we...weren't those people anymore, at the end...!"

"What's this about?"

Screams erupted from the background, which caused Zoro to pale. They were desperate screams, curses coming from a man desperate for a break. Sanji's breathing changed to stressful exhalations, near wheezing. It sounded suddenly like was trying to stifle heaving, helpless sobs. There was a voice that sounded absolutely horrifying, monstrous, speaking in a language Zoro couldn't identify. Those children laughed and cried with glee below those more terrifying noises.

"Zoro. _Tell me_," Sanji begged, voice fading in and out. Those screams sounded absolutely frightening. It sounded like a man in the middle of dying, being torn apart violently with wrenching sounds that caused a near inhuman sound. The deep tone made Zoro think that it was Law, but his troubled mind refused to think that it was him. "Tell me we were good people…._please_!"

Before he could think, Zoro answered breathlessly, "You were both very good people."

After the screams continued, children talking noisily in the background, a whining motor sounding out with trouble, Sanji exhaled. "Thank you."

The dial tone sounded out in Zoro's ear, and he pulled his phone away, looking at it. Visibly shaken, he put the phone down. He felt terribly ill with weakened knees, like he'd been witness to a terrifying event. His mind echoed with the bewildering contents he'd heard, causing him to brace himself against the counter as Robin called out with concern. Zoro had never felt so helpless, before.

He never heard from Sanji again.


End file.
